Nooks and Crannies aka it's going to be okay
by HappyValentina
Summary: A peek in-between into the Hummel-Hudson household and all of its current residents. Chapter 10 is Blaine's p.o.v, set after "Goodbye". Features Klaine, brotherly Furt, Kum friendship, Blam friendship, Puckurt friendship, etc...
1. Chapter 1

_This started out as a little post-Valentine one-shot. But this is something that I can definitively carry on throughout the rest of the season. I guess I just wish we could get a lot more Hummel-Hudson household interactions. I miss those. And when Sam mentioned he was bunking at Finn and Kurt's, I wanted so bad for something to make it into the show, to see Carole dealing with a sudden excess of men in her house, to see Finn and Sam having Rory over to watch scary movies, and Kurt jumping up and clutching Blaine during any scenes with vampires, to see the boys fighting over who's schedules for the bathroom in the morning. _

_Wouldn't that be nice?_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. It belongs to RIB, the writers, and FOX._

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><p><strong>Nooks and Crannies (a.k.a it's going to be okay)<strong>

by HappyValentina

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

Valentine's day sucked.

Sam had never been the biggest fan of the holiday, because it was such a consumerist holiday, and he always hated that, even back when he didn't have economic problems. It just wasn't the point of the holiday.

The point of Valentine's day was big romantic gestures, love declarations, the thrill of a mysterious valentine. Or so he was told.

But today, and a few days leading up to this Valentine, everyone around him seemed to have turned into mindless, corny piles of mush.

Impending nuptials, gorilla-grams, Rory and Artie trying to one-up each other on their quest for (some) Sugar, and Tina and Mike dancing cutely throughout the hallways of McKinley.

And what did he get? A goodbye song, and his heart ripped out.

And now he was supposed to go to Sugar's party and see Mercedes and sing with her a few love songs dedicated to other couples?

Didn't that fall under the definition of masochism?

If he was honest with himself, all he wanted to do right now was lie in bed, curled up in a ball, or eat ice cream and listen to Adele (or was that too girly?), or do something equally pathetic and wait it out until this day was over. Or maybe he'd just unload some of his frustration on a video game (he really felt like killing something) until it was time for the inevitable party.

As he reached the top of the stairs, Sam stopped and glanced into Kurt's room. Kurt was standing in front of his full-length mirror, tying a tie around his neck. He looked up from what he was doing and smiled at Sam.

"Oh hi," he said.

"Hey," Sam responded, leaning against the door frame. "I didn't know there was anyone else in the house."

"Me neither."

"I thought you'd be at dinner at the Berries."

Kurt's smile faded instantly, turning sour instead. "Not at all," he said, going back to the task at hand. "I don't want to be any part of this... thing."

Sam walked into the room tentatively. "He's your brother," he shrugged.

"Step-brother," Kurt said firmly, not glancing up.

Sam came to sit on the chair of Kurt's vanity, watching him work.

"I was under the impression you guys dropped the 'step' a long time ago," he said quietly.

Kurt sighed. "Yeah well, it comes back around whenever he does something that shows how we're not biologically related at all. Like making stupid, impulsive decisions. And not listening to reason."

"It's not _that_ stupid, or impulsive," Sam said, sitting cross-legged on the chair. "I mean, if that were true, they would've eloped by now."

Kurt made a face.

"They're in love. They have been for a while. They think they're soul mates," Sam continued. "They might just be right."

"Yeah, right."

"I thought you might believe in soul mates."

"I don't believe in being so sure of having found your soul mate when you're still in high school."

Sam shrugged again.

"I would've assumed the complete opposite of you. Considering that you seem to have found yours."

Kurt shot him a look and grabbed a bottle of hair product behind Sam's elbow, but when he faced the mirror again and started fixing his hair, Sam saw that he was trying to hide a smile.

"I mean, what would you do if Blaine proposed to you?" Sam added casually, pretending not to notice.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I would try to talk him out of it."

He answered quickly and without hesitation, as if someone had already asked him that question, and Kurt had already thought long and hard about his answer.

Sam chuckled. "I think you would say yes. Because it's Blaine. And because you wouldn't pass up the chance to possibly beat the odds. Which, let's be honest, you two probably could."

Kurt stilled his hands over his head and frowned in confusion. "What?"

Sam shrugged again. "So what if most teen marriages end up in divorce? Some don't. What if that's you?"

Kurt didn't say anything as he put the finishing touches on his hair and looked satisfied at his reflection. He capped the bottle and put it on his vanity again, avoiding Sam's eyes as he did.

"I hate to say it, but you kind of make sense," he finally said, putting on his watched. "However, Finn is only doing this because he's not sure what he wants to do with his life, and he needs something certain, and he picked _marriage_. What does that tell you?"

It was Sam's turn to stay quiet.

"It's a bad decision, and it's bound to blow up in his face," Kurt continued.

"What if it doesn't?" Sam said. "What if he and Rachel stay strong forever? What if they _are_ perfect for each other?"

Kurt made a noise like a snort. "That's not the point. He's practically throwing away any chance of greatness, just because he's afraid to fail. He's afraid to even try."

"But wouldn't giving Rachel up be like throwing away something that's great for him?"

Kurt laughed out loud.

"I never pegged you for a romantic, you know?" he said. Sam pouted.

"I've always been a romantic," he muttered.

"If that's the case, what are you doing home on Valentine's day? I thought you'd be throwing pebbles at Mercedes's window and strumming a ditty for her on your guitar."

Sam felt something slightly warm and fuzzy for a second when Kurt said 'home', but then his face fell at the mention of Mercedes.

"Yeah, well... she'll have none of that anymore," he said quietly. Kurt watched him for a second.

"You think that, but..." he started tentatively. "She's kind of a romantic too."

"I know," Sam said, but he probably didn't sound so convinced.

Kurt patted Sam on the shoulder. "Don't give up so easily."

Sam tried to smile at him, but it only came out as half a smile. Kurt pulled on a vest.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" Sam asked. He was reconsidering the ice cream and the virtual killing in exchange for some human interaction.

But Kurt gave him an apologetic look. "Oh... I'm meeting Blaine at Breadstix. Sorry."

Sam waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, that's fine. So he's okay now?"

"I guess. I haven't asked much, because he gets a little frustrated. But he sent me another anonymous gorilla-gram and asked me to meet him, so that I would finally meet my 'secret admirer'. He thinks he's so clever." Kurt chuckled fondly.

"Okay, well, have a good time," Sam replied, getting up.

"Do you wanna come?" Kurt asked before Sam left. Sam shot him a weird look. "Just to hang out. I'm sure Blaine wouldn't mind, and I wouldn't either. We're staying for Sugar's party, anyway. You are coming to the party, right?"

"Yeah, I have God Squad duty. But..." Sam shook his head. "It's okay, you go ahead. Go get your boy."

Kurt nodded, and smiled a little.

"Hey Sam?"

Sam stopped at the doorway and turned.

"It's going to be okay," Kurt said, with a wider, sympathetic smile.

Sam didn't respond, only smiled back and sighed. He walked out and went downstairs.

He lounged in the living room, eating Doritos and watching "Spiderman 3" (because it was the only half-decent, non-romantic film on at the time), until he could forget momentarily why he was so bummed out today. After a bit, he heard Kurt come downstairs and shout a brief 'see you later' and run out the door, and suddenly Sam realized that he was alone, and he remembered that he was _alone_.

He spent the next few minutes pushing Mercedes out of his mind, and telling himself that it would be okay, that maybe it was for the best. It's going to be okay.

He shut off the TV and headed upstairs again, to get dressed for the party. He'd do his God Squad job, and he'd sing some songs, and he'd find someone to dance with, and he'd have a good time.

For someone who had been planning a night of wallowing in self-pity, Sam suddenly didn't feel so bad anymore.

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><p><em>This should keep me alive during the hiatus.<em>

_The title, I hope it makes sense, it's supposed to refer to all the little things that go around the Hummel-Hudson household. Things that may not be all that relevant to the bigger plot, but that we all love, because it's a window into the lives of some of our favorite characters. __I need my daily dosage of Burt and Carole, you know. I need a glance into the home that they've built together._

_Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think._

_-Valentina_


	2. Chapter 2

_This one is set during "On My Way", after Kurt talks to the God Squad, after Finn and Rachel talk in the hallway, and before Sebastian's apology. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. It belongs to RIB, the writers, and FOX._

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><p><strong>Nooks and Crannies (a.k.a it's going to be okay)<strong>

by HappyValentina

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

"Dad, could Blaine spend the night, please?"

The question came just before dinner; Finn and Sam were standing just outside the living room, where Burt and Carole were sitting with Kurt and Blaine, talking.

The question was also accompanied by one of the most painful looks Finn had ever seen upon his brother's face. He had seen that look so many times before; when Finn had called him a horrible word; when Burt was in the hospital; when Blaine was hurt; when he had to leave McKinley. It seemed like all Kurt ever felt was pain.

Finn had seen Kurt wearing that look all day, too, ever since Mr. Schue had broken the news about Karofsky, and it oddly unsettled him. But now he knew why.

As soon as the four boys got back from school, Kurt had sat down his parents and spent an hour telling them _everything_. Everything he felt he owed telling them, everything that led up to that moment. He told them about an unrequited kiss in the boys' locker room, about a death threat in the school hallway, about a stolen cake topper, about a promise of a secret, about beards and Bullywhips, and about a tearful apology. He even told them about a gay bar, gorilla-grams and a declaration of love.

His parents listened, asking the occasional question, but mostly allowing Kurt to go at his own pace. Burt was clearly doing everything in his power to stay calm, and Carole was rubbing his back soothingly, the same way Blaine was rubbing Kurt's.

And outside, Finn listened too, shaking slightly, his mouth dry, because he never knew, because he had been too angry to realize anything was strange. Beside him, Sam was just as stunned.

By the time he finished, Kurt looked like he had dropped a heavy weight off, but he didn't look relieved at all. Maybe it was supposed to be cathartic, or maybe he just needed to come clean about everything, because it had affected them all at some point; because it shed a light onto what led Karofsky to try something like that.

He wiped away a tear and waited for his father to answer.

"We're... not going to do anything, I promise... I just really don't want to be alone right now," he added in an almost imperceptible whisper.

Finn immediately looked at Burt to see his reaction; there was a mixture of understanding and something like betrayal on his step-father's face. The man let out a long breath and rubbed his face.

"Do your parents know about this?" he asked Blaine.

Blaine shook his head, his face conveying that this was not his idea at all; or at least that's what he seemed to be trying to show Burt.

"I can call them," he replied tentatively, his voice a little hoarse.

Burt glanced at Carole for a split second, silently asking for her input. She merely pressed her lips together and blew her nose noisily into a tissue.

"Your door stays open," Burt finally said to Kurt. "And you call your parents right now," he added toward Blaine.

There was no triumphant look from either boy. Kurt only gripped Blaine's hand tighter.

Burt got up slowly and walked out without another glance at his son. He didn't acknowledge the other two boys standing outside the door either. He went upstairs and didn't come back down until dinnertime.

Finn looked at Sam, and realized Sam looked just as lost as him.

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><p>At dinner, everyone was oddly silent. Carole would recently take to making jokes about the small army of men in her kitchen and testosterone levels and growing boys with huge appetites. But no one had much of an appetite now, and no one spoke much either.<p>

Blaine and Carole coaxed Kurt incessantly into eating something, resisting the urge to force-feed him, but eventually gave up because Kurt insisted that he wasn't hungry. It was rather early, but since no one felt like doing much anyway, soon after dinner they all headed upstairs.

Regionals were in two days, and they needed to be well rested and ready for the final rehearsals. Finn tried to focus on that, anything not to think anymore about that thing that he didn't want to think about anymore, but he was unsuccessful at keeping his mind off of it.

Sam looked like he was in dire need of talking about it, though, now that Kurt and the parents were out of earshot, but he probably noticed Finn's tension. They bypassed the video games for the night and went about getting ready for bed.

Finn might have been feeling awkward, standing in the hallway with Sam, waiting for their turn to use the bathroom and brush their teeth. Blaine came out a couple of minutes later, barefoot and clad in Kurt's pajamas, and attempting nonchalance as he said 'goodnight' and walked to Kurt's room, and Finn was so decidedly awkward, that he didn't react in time when Sam rushed into the bathroom ahead of him and closed the door. Finn sighed in resignation, and went quietly to peek inside Kurt's bedroom while he waited for his turn.

Like Burt had ordered, Blaine left the door open and turned off the light before jumping into bed. Kurt was already under the blankets, and Finn almost assumed he had been asleep already, but his brother's voice came as a fine murmur.

"He's going to be fine," Blaine replied to whatever Kurt had asked.

After a pause, Kurt sniffled a little and rolled over and into Blaine's embrace, and Blaine was kissing Kurt's forehead and rubbing his back.

Finn felt a little guilty spying on them. But it made him feel slightly better, as if he were the one being comforted.

After seeing Kurt's reaction to the news, and learning about the extent of his brother's relationship to his former bully, he had been worried sick about Kurt. Because he couldn't understand why he would've kept all that from them, considering how much it hurt them to be lied to like that; and how he hurt himself.

Kurt had kept all that bottled up inside. All this time, he had been going through all that by himself. And didn't that just make everything ten times worse?

Finn jumped when he heard the bathroom door open again, and he leapt back to the middle of the hallway, to pretend he hadn't just been spying on his brother. Fortunately Sam was too busy putting on chapstick, and he didn't notice anything.

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><p>"Sam? Sam, are you awake?"<p>

A light snore from the other side of the room was all the response that Finn needed.

Four hours later, and he had not succeeded in staying asleep. He kept waking up, checking the time, freaking out over how tired he'd be in the morning, and then staring at the ceiling for a long time.

There were just too many things in his mind. His head was a muddle of imaginary scenarios, past events, and a lot of horrible words.

Flinging the covers off of himself, he got up and walked carefully to the door. He'd go downstairs and make himself some tea or warm milk, like Kurt always recommended.

As he tiptoed toward the stairs, he glanced inside Kurt's room, and stopped.

Burt stood beside the bed, looking down at the sleeping boys. It was like he was in a trance.

Kurt was fast asleep, with Blaine's arms wrapped up around his chest. Their fingers were intertwined, and Blaine's face was buried against the base of Kurt's neck.

At least they didn't seem to be having trouble sleeping, which was a lot more than he could say for himself. Or Burt.

In the dim light coming from outside, he could barely see his step-father's face. His expression was almost mournful as he reached out and tenderly pushed back the mussed hair falling across Kurt's forehead.

Finn swallowed hard. He wondered how many times Burt had done this, been so worried sick that he would literally watch over his son even while he slept; how many times since Kurt came out; how many since it had been just the two of them.

And he wondered momentarily if Burt had ever done that to him, too.

"Burt," he called out very softly. Burt didn't seem to hear him. Finn stepped into the room gently and approached him.

"Burt," he said again, into Burt's ear. His stepfather flinched. Blaine stirred but didn't wake up.

"Hey, buddy," Burt whispered. Finn had really caught him by surprise.

"Are you okay?" Finn asked.

Burt looked a little lost for a second, like he didn't even know where he was. But he glanced briefly back down at Kurt's sleeping form and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, I was just... I just wanted to make sure..."

"He's fine, Burt, come on," Finn said, leading him quietly out of the room. Burt cast one last stare at the bed, and without hesitation, gently closed the door behind them as they exited. Finn was about to remind him of the open door policy, but he decided against it.

Burt didn't protest as Finn led him downstairs. He looked exhausted, but judging from what Finn just saw, he was having just as much difficulty as him to fall asleep. Maybe they could both use a tea.

Burt watched him as Finn went about putting the kettle on the stove.

"What are you still doing up?" he asked. Finn shrugged.

"This whole Karofsky thing is just... I've been thinking about it a lot, and now I can't stop. It's been a long day. But now I can't sleep at all."

"Makes sense," Burt responded with a big yawn.

Finn eyed him sympathetically. He couldn't presume to know what was going through Burt's mind every day. Because Finn was neither a parent, nor a widower, and especially not the widower father of a child who had gone through so much. There were so many things going through Burt's mind, that he couldn't even fathom. There were so many things going through his own, things that he probably wouldn't have thought about if he hadn't suddenly become someone's brother.

Finn fetched some herbal tea from the pantry -he assumed the one called Sleepy Time should do the trick-, and glanced at his stepfather.

"You know, Burt, I gotta say, and please don't take this the wrong way, but that thing you were doing? It's kinda creepy. If he had woken up and seen a person there, he would've woken up the entire house."

There was an eerie silence from the breakfast table. Burt then made a small noise, that Finn wasn't sure how to interpret.

"You wouldn't understand," he said softly. "Not just yet, at least."

"Yeah I get that, but..." Finn trailed off, watching Burt watch the kettle. "Are you... afraid that he might... do something?"

Burt came out of his trance again. "No," he replied immediately, but not too convincingly.

"Kurt wouldn't- I mean, he's not-" He stopped for a moment and looked almost apologetically at his stepson. "I hope not."

Finn suddenly looked thoroughly outraged, and Burt lifted his hands defensively.

"I'm not saying that- I don't know what I'm saying. I just... really want to keep a close eye on him. I know it seemed like I was angry, but I just couldn't believe that he kept all this hidden from me. I thought we had a deal-"

"You know he had his reasons-"

"I know, yeah. I just really, really wish he could just..." Burt's breath hitched in his throat, "be happy."

"He _is_ happy," Finn pointed out a little too loudly, and Burt lifted a finger to his lips. Finn continued in a lower voice. "Look, I know he looked pretty shaken, but we all were. I think he just took it the hardest because of... everything."

He watched his stepfather nodding along with what he was saying.

"You know, if you want me to keep a closer eye on him, I'll do it. We all will. You know we always do. Blaine, obviously, but also Sam and Rachel, and me. Everyone does, all the time. But he's just stressed right now, with Sectionals, and Blaine having been in the hospital, and now this... But he's okay." He looked Burt in the eye. "It's going to be okay."

Burt's gaze fell to the table. The kettle started whistling, and Finn went to turn off the stove. He poured the boiling water into two mugs and carried them over to the table.

"We were so hard on him."

Finn caught on after a seconds, that Burt wasn't talking about Kurt anymore.

"He said he would kill Kurt. It's only normal," he continued, mostly to himself than to Finn. "But Kurt should've told me."

Finn shook his head slowly. "You know how he is. He might have that deal with you, but if he makes a promise, he stays true to it," he said, smiling to himself. He tried not to tell Kurt very often how much he really admired him, for fear that it would go up to his head.

Burt chuckled into his tea. "He's a little headstrong like that," he said.

"I was gonna say that he's got a big heart."

Burt nodded. "Yeah, that too. He gets that from his mom."

Finn smiled, winking at his stepfather. "I think he got it from both of you."

They sat in silence a little while longer, drinking tea and fighting yawns. Finn started to feel a lot more relaxed, and hopeful that they would both be able to sleep soundly now.

Maybe he ought to adopt Rachel's evening tea tradition.

He suddenly remembered that he had yet to tell Burt and his mom that he and Rachel had moved up their wedding date to that same weekend.

Although considering the unsettling events of that day and the overwhelming revelations of that night, he decided maybe it was best to wait until morning.

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><p><em>I'd like to think that, after hearing the full story from Kurt, Burt and Carole decided to come support their kids for the first time. (Because, in my headcanon, or rather, to somehow excuse RIB's lack of continuity, the parents never go to the club's performances because they believe their kids would be embarrassed or something). Another option, though, is that, upon hearing that the Finchel nuptials depended on whether New Directions won or lost, they were there to find out what was going to happen instead of having to wait for their kids to tell them afterwards. Which would also explain why Hiram and Leroy were suddenly there too, seeing as they're all reluctant to have their kids marry. However, they couldn't help get all excited and root for them anyway. <em>

_I digress._

_Thanks for reading._

_-Valentina_


	3. Chapter 3

_In which Finn and Rachel are getting married, and the groom and his groomsmen are getting ready at the Hudmels._

_Sorry for taking so long to update, but I was sick and whenever I wasn't feeling like i wanted to die, I couldn't focus much. _

_I particularly like this one a lot. It's Burt's p.o.v. I love Burt._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. It belongs to RIB, the writers, and FOX._

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><p><strong>Nooks and Crannies (a.k.a it's going to be okay)<strong>

by HappyValentina

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

"I think I'm choking."

"You're fine."

"Seriously, I can't breathe, Kurt."

Kurt sighed deeply and continued working on the tie, but stopped again when Puck made another gagging noise.

"Blaine, could you take over, please? If I do it, I might just choke him on purpose."

"I hate ties. There's a reason I never wear them. I don't know how you do it," Puck grumbled. "You and your Dalton ties and bow ties, and what is wrong with not wearing anything around your neck?"

Blaine took over the task, while Puck continued to pout like a child. Kurt moved over to Sam, who seemed to be having the same kind of trouble tying a Windsor knot.

Despite being against the whole wedding from the very beginning, Kurt had almost resigned himself, after Rachel had nagged him for three days straight, and he had naturally fallen into the role of wedding planner. It was like he had the moral obligation to himself to make it perfect anyway.

Burt watched tensely from a corner as the groomsmen finished getting ready. Kurt went around to each one, pinning a white rose and baby's breath _boutonnière_ to their jacket lapels, while Blaine diligently passed them to him.

The living room was a little messy since all of the boys had arrived, per Kurt's orders. Carole kept murmuring something about a definitive excess of testosterone in her house. They were used by now to Sam and Blaine, but it had been a long time since they'd had to put up with Puck's boisterous attitude, the house was not adequate for a wheelchair, and then there was the Irish kid who looked oddly like Kurt and whom they couldn't understand at all most of the time.

Finn looked a little like he was about to pass out. He kept pacing in front of the fireplace, playing with the cuffs of his shirt. "Is it me or is it really hot in here?"

"You're just nervous, Finn. Calm down," his mother replied, not very sweetly or comforting. She was checking her hair in the mirror and fixing her lipstick.

Burt checked his watch. It was still early, but they probably should be at the courthouse a half hour before schedule, just in case.

Or not.

He kept glancing over at Carole, wondering if she was thinking of a way to put a stop to all this. Either she had already resigned herself too, or she was silently, inconspicuously working out the last details of her plan in her mind.

Who was he kidding? Even if they managed to make Finn come to his senses, the moment Rachel found out, she'd march right over here and talk Finn right back into it.

And who did these kids think they were to go about making this kind of decision? They weren't even old enough to drink the champagne at their own wedding reception!

He had not heard anything from Hiram and Leroy since after Regionals. They had said they were doing everything to get Rachel to reconsider. They would sit her down to watch all of her favorite musicals, talk about NYADA and her career endlessly, and a whole bunch of other things to inspire her. But so far, Burt hadn't gotten any news. Which did not bode well.

For their part, Kurt had spent most of the night playfully taunting Finn about the fact that they couldn't even throw him a bachelor party, although Finn pointed out that Rachel wouldn't even have let them anyway.

"But what are you going to do after the reception? You don't even have your own place! What, are you both just going back to your respective homes until we graduate? 'Okay, see you at school tomorrow'. Isn't that, like, atrociously lame and embarrassing?"

Burt had been successful at hiding his amusement at that, but he had barely succeeded at hiding his frustration when Finn replied matter-of-factly that they were living at the Berry residence, and oh, he was going to kill Hiram and Leroy.

Burt was brought back to the present when Kurt let out a heavy sigh; he was checking over his to-do list, and he seemed to be stuck on one thing that he had yet to do.

"Carole, is it okay if Rachel wears your 'something borrowed'?" he asked, rather quietly.

Carole stopped fussing over her reflection and looked at Kurt in surprise. Burt frowned in confusion; he was never very savvy of wedding terminology.

Kurt shrugged. "Because then it would be double-borrowed, and maybe that's good luck," he explained. "And I think we could use all the luck we can get," he added in a lower voice.

Carole looked at Burt, who seemed hesitant once it dawned on him what they were talking about. Carole's 'something borrowed' had once belonged to Kurt's mom. It was a silver and pearl hair pin that kept the veil in place. It was passed down from Kurt's grandmother.

"Oh, well, honey, that's really up to you. It's not mine, after all." Carole said.

"Well, Rachel is my friend, and she's about to become my sister-in-law, I guess it's only... natural," Kurt replied with another sigh. "What do you think, dad?"

Burt shrugged. He hadn't even suggested that Carole use it at their wedding, but Kurt had been rather excited, and he couldn't say no.

"I don't mind," he said as truthfully as he could. "I'll go get it. You keep... planning."

Burt left the living room just in time, because Kurt had turned around and started yelling at Puck for tugging his tie loose.

It had been fine with him when Carole used the family heirloom. It still belong to Kurt's mom, and Carole had just borrowed it. Rachel would only do the same. And as long as it was okay with Kurt, it was okay with him.

And after all, Rachel was about to become his daughter-in-law. Maybe this would turn into a family tradition. Although he couldn't see how Blaine would fit into it...

Oh god, he wasn't ready for this. He wasn't ready for daughters-in-law, or sons-in-law (though at least it seemed that he didn't have to worry about sons-in-law for a while, whether they liked it or not).

Burt was so afraid, so terrified of doing anything at this point. If he said something, he feared that Finn would shut down on him, shut him out. Not after everything, he couldn't let that happen. But if he let the wedding happen, it was a recipe for disaster.

He just knew it. He could feel it in his bones.

Finn was his son, both legally and in practice, and he loved him, and he really, really didn't want him making any mistakes, if he could avoid it. As a father, he wanted to do everything in his power to protect his kid from everything. Even from himself.

And it's not like they didn't want Finn and Rachel to get married. It's just that, they didn't want them to get married right this instant.

He felt powerless. He just had no clue of what to do.

He climbed the stairs slowly and walked into the attic. Burt went straight for the the old broken dresser where he kept things that they didn't use often or that were just keepsakes. Kurt's old baby clothes, documents, books, jewelry, and a lot photo albums.

As he was rummaging through the drawers of the dresser, he caught a whiff of perfume.

Elizabeth's perfume.

There was an automatic click in his brain as he paused and let the scent wrap up around him and fill him up. It was amazing how, after all this time, the scent was still so strong.

He looked down, and pulled out the jewelry box where he kept some of Elizabeth's things, including the hair pin. Underneath the box, he spotted a framed picture, fading and grainy, of his and Elizabeth's wedding day. He took it out and stared at it for what felt like the longest time.

It hadn't been a big, ostentatious party, by any means, but it had been one of the most joyous occasion of his life, up until then. The other ones would be the birth of his son, and then, of course, his second wedding.

He laughed to himself, noticing how much hair he'd still had back then. But what struck him the most from the picture, was how lovely and beautiful his bride had been.

And it was just striking to see how much Kurt was like her. Not only in appearance, but there was so much of her strength and kindness and passion in him. It amazed Burt to no end, and it made him so proud.

Burt ran a finger gently over the white wedding dress in the picture and breathed deeply.

It suddenly dawned on him that he couldn't be so bold as to pretend to know already what the outcome of today would be.

Because he knew what it was like to be young, and to feel so strongly about the decisions one makes. To be so blindly hopeful and determined and _certain_ that everything is going to be perfect.

Because if someone had told him, nineteen years ago, not to marry Elizabeth, he wouldn't have listened. He had been convinced that she was the one, and that he had to marry that girl no matter what.

And he was glad he did. Otherwise, maybe he wouldn't have been so happy.

He wouldn't have had Kurt, and have him become the kind of man he is now.

He wouldn't have had the best family he could ever hope for.

And he certainly wouldn't have had the will and the strength to move on, when the time came for it.

Burt put the framed picture back in the dresser. He produced the hair pin from the jewelry box, and then placed the box back in the drawer too.

He could only hope that everything would be okay.

Maybe Kurt was right, and this little hair pin would be the lucky charm they needed.

* * *

><p><em>As I was trying to figure out how to finish this part, I was watching "Dan in real life". I absolutely love that film. If you've seen the film, you'll see the parallel. <em>

"_Whether they like it or not". I was inspired to make a small reference to gay marriage by something I read on Tumblr. Even if Blaine and Kurt were "crazy" enough to consider marriage at their age (and I use quotation marks because, I admit, not all teen marriages are crazy), they can't because it's not even legal. At least they're going to New York, and it's legal there, and besides, they're very sensible, so they wouldn't just jump into anything, like Finn and Rachel, and isn't it unfair that they can get married at whatever age they want, wherever they want, while gay couples can't? (I'm sorry, I might have watched "8" a few dozen times, and I might still be a little riled up). _

_The 'okay, I'll see you at school tomorrow', I borrowed it from Tumblr too. "Like, have they even spoken about living arrangements? Or are they actually each going back to their respective homes?" I can't remember who said it, but it was really funny and I just had to put it in._

_The lucky charm thing is a little bit of irony. Because Rachel let Finn see her in her wedding dress before the actual wedding. "It's bad luck." And then Quinn... oh, Quinn..._

_Part four coming up soon. Thanks for reading!_

_-Valentina_


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry for taking so long. I've had a lot going on, and I didn't know quite how to finish this one. Still not 100% happy with it, but I can't think about this anymore. I have other stories that I'd like to move on to. _

_You know how people deal with stress differently? Some eat, some stop eating, some smoke, some drink, and some people need to do stuff to keep busy, distracted. Here's what happens in the Hudmel residence when the stress levels are high._

_Set after "On my way", pertains to Quinn's accident. This is Blaine's p.o.v._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. It belongs to RIB, the writers, and FOX._

* * *

><p><strong>Nooks and Crannies (a.k.a it's going to be okay)<strong>

by HappyValentina

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

Blaine had come to learn that Kurt did a lot of things when he was stressed. Cleaning, reorganizing his wardrobe (and sometimes Finn's, which resulted in throwing a lot of stuff out), shopping, running, and a few times, cooking.

Right now it seemed that Kurt's level of stress would have proven fruitful, had he been considering to open up a bakery.

Since Blaine arrived, Kurt had already made three dozen chocolate chip cookies, and was in the midst of making three more. He worked like an automaton. It was his mother's recipe; he had it memorized since he was seven.

Blaine tried not to think about how adorable Kurt looked, with his apron, his hair uncharacteristically disheveled, and a smudge of flour on his cheek; he thought he ought to actually try to distract him in some way, before it got way more out of control.

"So, the Warblers sent Quinn a bouquet, too, and balloons," he said, continuing the conversation he had pretty much been holding up by himself. "Even Sebastian signed the card. That's nice, isn't it? At least they're trying to be nice now, in spite of everything."

Kurt made a noise between a hum of acknowledgement and a derisive snort, but he was too busy stirring to meet his boyfriend's eyes. Blaine took a bite of a cookie.

"Though Nick did tell me it was mostly his and Jeff's idea, because Jeff kind of has a crush on Quinn, and Nick was getting annoyed of hearing about it," Blaine said with a half-chuckle, talking with his mouth full. "Although maybe I shouldn't mention that, especially not in front of Sam."

Sam, who sat across from him at the breakfast table, was absently playing with the crumbs of his half-eaten cookie.

"Sam?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you- um- would you like a glass of milk to wash that down?"

Sam didn't look up, but he nodded slowly. "Sure, thanks," he muttered.

Blaine got up to pour two glasses of milk, narrowly colliding with Kurt, who wordlessly nudged him gently out of the way to fetch more butter from the fridge. He brought the milk back to the table. Sam didn't touch his.

It had been a week since Quinn's accident; a week since Finn and Rachel had to abruptly call off the wedding because Rachel had a bad feeling when Quinn texted she was on her way and then failed to show up still a half hour later. It had been a week since Quinn had undergone major surgery and had been within an inch of her life before slipping into a coma that no one knew how long it would last. A week since their lives had been unexpectedly brought to a pause.

The absence of one of the team hung over them like a rain cloud ready to burst. Glee was kind of suspended until further notice, but they still went to the choir room, just to be together. But no one sang. Not even Rachel. Especially not Rachel.

Tina spent a lot of time crying, so much that the teachers kept sending her home. Rory was like a lost puppy, not having dealt with Quinn's absence during the start of the school year, and spent a lot of time at Finn and Kurt's; he said it beat listening to Brittany and Santana cry together every afternoon.

Puck had been hanging out a lot at the Hummel-Hudson residence, too. He usually coaxed Finn, Sam and Rory into playing video games for hours; he also spend copious amounts of time just sitting by Quinn's bed, until the staff had to kick him out when visiting hours were over.

They all seemed like lost children; they had been dealt too much the last couple of weeks, and they were all having a hard time. Between Dave Karofsky and Quinn, Blaine worried that Kurt would have some kind of breakdown.

It was Saturday afternoon, and they were relieved not to have to drag themselves to school for a couple of days. But being at home meant wallowing in their collective distress and watching Kurt attempt to put the Girl Scouts to shame.

Burt walked in with an offhand greeting, wiping grease marks from his arms, and glanced at Kurt. Eyebrows knitted, Kurt was cutting star-shapes on the cookie dough with such focus, it seemed like he was deactivating a bomb.

"Hey, are you having a bake sale or something?" Burt asked, washing his hands in the sink.

"What?"

"What's with all the cookies? I'm guessing it's not all for us," Burt said as he made to grab a one that was cooling on a rack, just as Kurt made to swat his hand away.

"No, these are for-" _SLAP_ "-Quinn."

Burt glanced at Blaine, and Blaine only shrugged.

"Oh, I thought she was still- did she wake up?"

"Not yet," Kurt replied dryly.

Again, Burt looked at Blaine, who shook his head slowly in confirmation.

The fact that she might not wake up had not crossed their minds yet. Or at least if anyone was thinking it, no one was saying it out loud. Burt opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to change his mind immediately.

"Well, that's nice of you," he said instead, guardedly, taking advantage of Kurt being busy with putting the cookies in the oven, and grabbing one from the rack.

"Dad, put that back."

"What, suddenly you have eyes on the back of your neck? It's just one cookie, Kurt."

They all jumped when Kurt slammed the oven door in response. The look that Burt got when his son turned back around, Blaine could only describe as 'terrifying', and Burt seemed to realize his mistake too late.

"I'm not going to go into details of the harrowing experience I went through a year ago, during which the word 'orphan' came up too many times for my liking. You're a grown man, and you can take care of yourself, and you should be able to eat whatever you want. But not on my watch, and not right now. So if you don't put that cookie down this instant, I _will_ call your doctor. Don't try me."

The threat came out in one long, dangerous whisper. Burt obeyed immediately. Kurt huffed in exasperation and carried used bowls and utensils to the sink.

Blaine and Sam exchanged looks and remained silent. Burt cleared his throat.

"I... understand that you're still touchy about that," he muttered. Kurt clattered stuff around in the sink, loudly.

"For the record, I really like those low-fat blueberry muffins you make," Burt added in a lower voice, the _'thank you for taking care of me, son_' somewhat concealed in that sentence. Blaine pretended not to watch endearingly as Burt kissed the top of Kurt's head before leaving the kitchen.

Kurt promptly finished washing the dishes and stood there, in the middle of the kitchen, distractedly looking around. Gingerly, Blaine got up and went to pour another glass of milk, before putting and arm around his boyfriend and leading him to the table.

"You know, these are really good, Kurt. Why don't come sit with us and have one?" he said.

Wordlessly, Kurt sat down, forgetting to take off his apron. He snatched a cookie from the plate, and seemed to ponder for a moment before taking a bite of the cookie.

Blaine put the milk in front of his boyfriend, and watched him in silence, worriedly but also slightly amused as Kurt chewed thoughtfully on the cookie, when Finn came into the kitchen.

"I just dropped Rachel off at her house," he said tiredly. He dropped his keys in the bowl by the phone, gave a hum of interest when he spotted the cookies, snatched up two, and then plopped down on the last chair with a sigh. He stuffed an entire cookie in his mouth.

"How is she?" Sam asked in the same droning voice he had been using all week.

"Well," Finn started, swallowing impossibly fast, "she seemed fine while we were at the hospital, but she was very upset on the ride back. She should be fine, though. Her dads made her the tea that she drinks before bed and it's supposed to help-"

"I meant Quinn," Sam interrupted.

"Oh," Finn sighed, like he didn't really want to answer. "She's still the same."

There was a pause; Finn looked a little dodgy all of a sudden, like he really didn't want to be there. He snatched a couple of extra cookies, grabbed Sam's untouched glass of milk, and left quickly.

Sam returned to looking at the table mournfully, and Kurt's gaze was lost in the distance.

"That's good," Blaine spoke up suddenly.

Sam looked up at him, both confused and annoyed. "How is that good?" he practically demanded. Blaine looked a little taken aback, hesitating a little before answering. "Well... she's stable."

That's as far as he knew; he wasn't all that knowledgeable about medicine, but he paid attention to the doctors when they let them ask questions; and he did his bit of research, to comfort himself. He shared what he found with Kurt; they agreed that Quinn had undergone a lot of trauma, and her body had shut down temporarily, to recover from all her injuries while sparing her as much pain as possible. It was similar to what would have happened if the coma had been induced.

That was one option. That was, hopefully, the likeliest option.

But he guess that was not what Sam wanted to hear. He just wanted Quinn to be okay and here and awake _right now. _

So Blaine kept his mouth shut.

"I know, but-" Sam struggled to talk and not get exasperated. "Never mind," he grumbled.

Blaine sighed quietly. Did Sam think that he wasn't worried about Quinn? He may not have known her as long as the others, he may not have been that close to her yet, but she was a friend, she was nice to him, and she meant a lot to a whole lot of people he cared about. She was part of the team. He cared about her just as much as anyone else.

But he kept his mouth shut. Whatever he said to them was probably not going to help at all.

Kurt, however, sighed loudly and spoke up.

"Whatever you're thinking about, Sam, just stop, okay? We don't need it. She's going to be okay."

"How do you know?" Sam asked. Almost snapped.

"What?"

"How can you know that?"

"I just know."

"How?" Sam pressed. Kurt sighed deeply.

"I've got a pretty good feeling."

Blaine watched the exchange with curiosity and a little apprehension. Sam narrowed his eyes at Kurt. "Uh-huh, and when does your 'feeling' say that she's gonna wake up?"

"What? No. I can't possibly know that. But she is," Kurt replied matter-of-factly.

"She is," Sam repeated.

"Don't you believe it?"

There was a tense silence, before Sam mumbled something very quietly.

"... You don't even believe in anything..."

Kurt suddenly looked like he had been slapped. "Excuse me?" he said in a very small voice. He looked genuinely hurt and shocked, and Blaine was suddenly very angry with Sam. Did that really just happen? They were supposed to be in this together, all of them.

Sam took a deep breath again and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean... You and Quinn have always been there for me," he said, and Blaine though he heard a quiver in his voice. "It's just... right now the one thing that should be helping me get through this, day by day, is the one thing that I can't deal with, because it reminds me too much of her. And I don't feel better, no matter what anyone says. And I just..."

He took a deep breath. "Joseph's been calling me, suggesting we could join Mercedes for prayer at her church," he started after a moment. "To be honest, I can't be around Mercedes right now, it's too complicated. And I don't really know Joseph very well. And... most importantly, I like my church, I like that I always met up with Quinn there, and now... Quinn won't be there, and I just don't know..."

He shoved the rest of his cookie into his mouth, and proceeded to chew in silence. Kurt looked at Blaine, like they didn't know what to say next, should they say something, while they waited for Sam to finish eating? Should they wait for him to continue?

Sam's eyes were suddenly glistening, as he swallowed a lump in his throat and took another deep breath. "How do you do it, Kurt?" he asked hoarsely.

Kurt blinked, confused. "How do I do what?"

"How do you... go through life without God?"

Kurt and Blaine both drew a blank. It was obviously not a confrontational question, but Blaine knew that Kurt couldn't help getting a bit defensive about it each time someone asked about it.

"Is this about you suddenly questioning your religion or is it about my lack of one?" Kurt asked.

Sam shook his head. "I just... It's not working for me right now. I want to know that, even if I can't do it anymore, it's still going to be alright. I just wondered how you can be so sure of anything right now."

Again Kurt glanced at Blaine momentarily, as if looking for some sort of reassurance. Rarely did Blaine ever see his boyfriend keep himself in check like that. Because Kurt always seemed to know what he wanted to say.

"Just because I don't have faith in a god, doesn't mean that I don't have faith at all," he started carefully, gauging Sam's reaction. "I have faith in people. I believe in the goodness of people. I believe that we might someday just stop hating each other so much and live together in peace. Not for the sake of some god, but for the sake of each other."

"Quinn is a good person," he continued. "She's kind and she deserves to be here just as much as anyone. She deserves a fighting chance; she deserves to go to Yale and become everything she's ever dreamed of being. I have faith in the doctors taking care of Quinn, and I have faith in Quinn herself. I know that she will pull through, just like my dad did. Because we love her, and we need her here."

Kurt's voice caught in his throat. He breathed deeply before going on.

"That's how I do it. That's how I have to do it," he shrugged. "I can't force myself to believe in something invisible, but I believe in Quinn."

Sam sat there, nodding thoughtfully, looking across the room, and Kurt was watching him warily.

"Sam, please don't just give up on your faith," he added. "You need to keep doing what you do, for Quinn. I don't know if it works, but you have to believe it does. Meanwhile, I don't know what to do with myself in these situations; I was feeling helpless, I suddenly had an urge to bake, and what are we supposed to do with six dozen cookies?"

Sam started laughing, and Kurt started laughing, and Blaine laughed and smiled at them both. It had been a while since anyone had laughed genuinely, uninhibited, in the past couple of weeks. Sam's eyes overflowed with the tears he'd been keeping at bay, but they were tears of laughter now, and Kurt and Blaine had them too. A few minutes went by before any of them could speak again.

"Well, I guess I could eat them, if you want, and I'm sure Finn won't mind helping out," Sam joked.

"Or we could actually set up a bake sale," said Blaine, grabbing another cookie and taking a bite. "How come you never make them? These are _really_ good."

"Thanks," Kurt smirked, patting Blaine's arm.

"They are," Sam echoed. "You know, we should actually probably hide them before Finn comes back."

"There are _six dozen,_" Kurt repeated, looking at Sam like he'd gone crazy, but Sam returned the look.

"Have you met Finn?"

"Hmm, you have a point."

Suddenly it was like nothing was wrong. Blaine relished for a moment the oddly blissful nonchalance of sitting with his boyfriend and a good friend just eating cookies and joking around a little, trying to keep the tension at bay. It worked. Even if it didn't feel like it one hundred percent, he knew everything was going to be okay.

Tomorrow was Sunday, and they would probably have to do it all over again.

* * *

><p><em>Cheesy ending, I know. <em>

_Partially inspired by my friend Alicia, who says that she likes to cook when she's stressed about something that she can do nothing about. She also cleans a lot. Like Monica-level of cleanliness. _

_And that's it. That's Nooks & Crannies for the hiatus. I will keep it going once the series restarts, but this is as much as I could squeeze out from the last two episodes before the tortuous weeks of nothingness. I will move on to something else. But this was fun._

_I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did._

_Thank you for reading._

_-Valentina._


	5. Chapter 5

_This one is considerably silly. I just wanted to write about the things that I wish they had addressed in the "Big Brother" episode, regarding Blaine's family, but I didn't know quite how to end it. Meh, I haven't had much time for anything; in fact, I should've turned this chapter in a week ago. Oh well, next time, I guess..._

_This is set after "Big Brother", and it's Blaine's p.o.v._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. It belongs to RIB, the writers, and FOX._

* * *

><p><strong>Nooks and Crannies (a.k.a it's going to be okay)<strong>

by HappyValentina

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

"Shouldn't you be done with your report?"

Blaine blinked and looked up from the laptop screen. Kurt swiveled around on his desk chair to face him.

"If we're not done with homework early, my dad will give us a hard time about going to the Titanic 3D midnight showing."

He had already typed up most of his book report, but Blaine realized he must have spaced out at some point. Kurt must have noticed when he stopped clacking away furiously on the keyboard.

"Oh sorry, I was just... I got distracted," he said, trying to get back on track.

"You're not checking his Twitter again, are you?" Kurt asked.

"Uh, no." Blaine didn't even have the Twitter tab open, but he knew whose Twitter Kurt meant.

"It's only been a day, you know?"

"I know."

Blaine sat up and crossed his legs so he could rest the laptop on his thighs; maybe a change of position would help him concentrate again.

He stared blankly at the screen, fingers hovering over the keyboard.

"You miss him already, don't you?" Kurt asked, watching him. Blaine took a deep breath.

"Kinda. Yeah..."

Cooper had left the day before, heading back to California, with a fresh audition tape under his arm and a promise to stay in touch a lot more. And although it felt like things might be different between them from now on, at this instant, his brother's absence suddenly resonated with him, like it just dawned on him.

He caught Kurt's sympathetic look.

"I know it's silly, but..."

"No, it's not silly. He's your brother, you're allowed to miss him," Kurt said. "I'm glad you guys made up before he left. I don't think I had ever seen you that upset before. Well, except maybe that time Sebastian-"

"Don't even say that name."

"Okay," Kurt smirked. Blaine sighed again, leaning heavily against the headboard.

"I do miss him. It's weird, isn't it? He's never really around, I probably should be used to it by now, right?"

"It's not something you just get used to. You care about him, of course you miss him."

Blaine put his laptop away and rubbed his face.

"Well, most of the time I didn't really miss him all that much. I mean, I kinda always have, but this time, I feel... it feels emptier... you know?"

Kurt nodded slowly. "Makes sense."

There was a pause as Blaine looked at his hands, thinking whether he should be speaking his mind right now or continuing to work.

"It's just weird and painful when he seems to forget that he was the only person who always seemed to be on my side, even when we fought. I thought that when we stopped living under the same roof, things would get better, like it seems to happen with most siblings. It was pretty easy for him to leave, but it wasn't so easy for me to see him go."

He took a deep breath. "When I came out, my dad started treating me differently. Not badly, just different. Granted, the man's never been the warmest person in the world, but when I told him I was gay... it was like he didn't know how to act around me anymore. My mom was suddenly so concerned about me all the time, like I was going to break or something." He chuckled mirthlessly. "I didn't exactly prove her wrong when I ended up in the hospital after the Sadie Hawkins dance."

Blaine shrugged. "Cooper was the only one who didn't treat me different. Sure, he's never made my life any easier, but at least that was still the same. It made me feel a little more comfortable, because I already felt like my world might crumble all around me any time."

Kurt stood up from the chair and sat beside Blaine on the bed. "Do you think, maybe if you had told him about it... if he had known, he would've gone easier on you?"

Blaine shook his head. "It's not that I wanted him to go easier on me," he said. "I guess, I just felt... like it was pretty much the same as always, except that, after long periods of time not seeing each other, I always expected his reappearance to be more... comforting. But he was still the same Cooper, showing off at everything and dragging me into it, and he was always better than me at everything, but he _really_ wasn't. He just somehow managed to convince everyone that I just wasn't as good." He shrugged again. "I don't know, I just... I pretended for a very long time that it didn't bother me, but the truth is, it did, and he didn't seem to care at all, and he always made me feel so... insecure."

Kurt chuckled lightly, but he saw immediately how Blaine didn't find that as funny, so he bit his lip. "How is that even possible? You're so good at everything, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. You constantly blow me away."

Blaine managed as smile as he reached out for Kurt's hand, and shrugged again. "I guess I just looked up to him. He's my brother, he's older, he's more experienced. I trusted him to tell me the truth. But it hurt. And I just didn't have it in me to tell him. I didn't want him to think that I couldn't take the criticism." He snickered lightly. "Plus, disregarding what you saw in his master class, he's actually very talented, when he's not displaying his inflated ego. And he's always so confident."

It was Kurt's turn to shrug. "I guess he just knows how to sell it. You know, 'sell himself'," he said, making the quotation marks with his fingers.

Blaine's expression turned sour again. "Worked with you," muttered.

"What?" Kurt blinked in surprise.

He didn't want to bring it up again, he had already established how much the whole experience of the past few days had bothered him. But he couldn't help thinking about it, about the way that everyone, including Kurt, seemed to hang on Cooper's every word.

"Don't play innocent. You were just as star-struck as everyone else. I thought you'd sprout little cartoon heart-shaped eyes all of a sudden," he said, trying not to sound like a 5-year-old as he complained, but failing miserably. This time, Kurt laughed out loud, and Blaine didn't know what exactly was so funny about what he'd just said.

"Oh honey, you didn't really think I had a crush on your brother or something, did you?"

Blaine huffed and shrugged, like what was he supposed to think when his boyfriend looked at Cooper the way he usually looked at Blaine? Kurt squeezed his hand and smiled reassuringly, though.

"Your brother is crazy, but he's a lot of fun. But he's _crazy_."

Blaine couldn't help but laugh a little.

"I was just star-struck, I guess," Kurt continued. "I mean, I'm a fan, and I had no idea he was your brother all this time, because you kept it as this huge secret. I'm sorry I reacted like that, but I guess I was a little awed when I realized that it seems to run in the family."

"What does?" Blaine asked.

"You're both stars. No matter what you do, you both seem to command attention wherever you go. You walk into a room, and soon every pair of eyes is trained on you two. You can't help it."

Blaine looked dubious. "Is that a bad thing or..."

"Are you kidding? It's a great thing. You're talented, so very talented, and charming. You deserve it. Because you're also kind and brave and I love you, and I'm proud of you."

This time, Blaine's smile was genuine, and his face grew a little hot under his boyfriend's gaze.

"I don't know why I've felt like I always needed his approval so badly," he said sheepishly.

"Cooper is proud of you too, he just has a very weird way of showing it," Kurt said, wrinkling his nose. "Has he always done the opposite of _everything_?"

Blaine laughed. "Kinda, yeah."

Kurt kissed him on the forehead and smiled at him. Blaine was about to say something else, about how much he really missed his brother, and how it was going to be even harder when Kurt left too, and Blaine wanted to cry every day just thinking about it. But he couldn't say that out loud. He didn't want him to feel bad about it. So he just nodded in agreement; but he couldn't smile back.

Kurt must have had some idea of what Blaine was thinking, because he suddenly looked very sad as he rubbed Blaine's back comfortingly, and suddenly cupped his face and kissed him fully on the lips.

Blaine wanted nothing more than to wrap himself up in Kurt and kiss all afternoon and do nothing else.

Forget homework and forget Titanic 3D.

Even better, forget New York and NYADA.

No, that was impossible. He couldn't forget about Kurt's dreams, which were, in part, also his. They both dreamed about New York. But the dream of being there _together_ was still a little way off, and it was just hard to cope with the idea.

He just really wished they could stay there, in Kurt's bed, in each other's arms, and not have to worry about graduation or auditions or Nationals, and most importantly, about missing people in his life.

"With our luck, your dad's going to walk in right now and see us," Blaine mumbled against Kurt's lips. Kurt chuckled.

"He's learned his lesson from last time. He announces himself when he comes upstairs," he replied before deepening the kiss.

"Oh, sorry, guys, I... I'm interrupting, aren't I?"

Blaine couldn't help glaring a little as he looked up to find Sam standing at the doorway, holding his binder, hand raised to knock on the open door, looking a little mortified. Kurt laughed into Blaine's shoulder.

"I'll come by later! Sorry!" Sam said, turning briskly on his heel.

"It's okay, Sam, what do you need?" Kurt said. Sam, still embarrassed, turned again and walked tentatively into Kurt's room.

"Well, I... I was just going to check some of the answers on the geometry homework with Blaine."

"You know the answers are always in the back of the books, don't you?" Blaine replied, still a little annoyed at the interruption.

"Yeah, but not the work," Sam said, smiling apologetically.

"Hey Kurt, can I borrow your chemistry book? I forgot mine at school. Thanks," Finn said, entering suddenly without even knocking. He had a notebook and his pencil case, and he snatched up Kurt's book from the desk without waiting for an answer and plopped down on the bed and proceeded to work on his homework.

Kurt rolled his eyes and went back to his homework at his desk, and Finn drummed on his open notebook absent-mindedly with his pencil, and Blaine sat with Sam at the foot of Kurt's bed, looking over geometry problems.

In spite of still being a little irked, Blaine was already feeling considerably better.

Sure, he still missed his brother.

But he wanted more than anything to spend more time with Kurt, before he had to miss him too.

And if that meant doing homework for hours with all the boys in the Hummel-Hudson home before they could actually get some alone time, then it was worth it.

* * *

><p><em>Sam's a junior too, right? I don't know if it's been established, but I'm guessing he is, considering he's not on the graduation pictures. This is what I envision homework to go like, everyone just ends up in Kurt's room, because Finn and Sam can't do homework alone to save themselves; they need their respective tutors. And just like Kurt said: "I love the big lug, and at the end of the day we're in each other's corners."<em>

_Thanks for reading. _

_-Valentina_


	6. Chapter 6

_I'm either very busy or very disorganized. This should've been done days ago._

_Last week's episode was torture, but at least it had a good ending. And this is a little extra for the end, because Blaine sent Kurt a text that we can only guess what it was about, but I'm not about to leave it at that._

_This is Finn's p.o.v., and then Kurt's, and then back to Finn's. It's got Klaine and Furt, and a lot of Sam being a bit of a douche. A nice douche, though. (I think that's an oxymoron, but oh well.)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. It belongs to RIB, the writers, and FOX._

* * *

><p><strong>Nooks and Crannies (a.k.a it's going to be okay)<strong>

by HappyValentina

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

Finn climbed up the stairs slowly. It was well past midnight, he was just getting home from being at Rachel's all night, helping her narrow down her picks for her NYADA audition song (as always), and he was pretty exhausted.

He tried not to make too much noise. As far as he was concerned, Kurt and Sam had come back hours ago, and they were probably asleep. His mom had left that afternoon to D.C. with Burt, and they wouldn't be back until thursday. If they knew he was arriving so late on a school night, he would've been getting an earful right now.

Finn just wanted to crash. Why was it only Tuesday?

He was a little spooked when he reached the top of the stairs, until he recognized the figure standing in the dimly-lit hallway; Sam was in his pajamas, pressing his ear lightly to Kurt's closed door, looking both amused and shocked.

"What are you doing?"

Sam jumped at the sound of Finn's voice, leaping away from the door. He looked like a deer caught in headlights, and his face turned such a deep shade of red, it was visible even in the dim light.

"Sam, what-" Finn frowned suspiciously, but Sam started flailing his hands and signaling for him to be quiet. Carefully, he stepped toward Finn and pulled him along, leading him back downstairs.

"What's going on?" Finn asked.

"Shh, they're gonna know I've been outside the door," Sam hissed, as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "They'll think I've been spying or something."

"You _were_ spying," Finn pointed out. His eyes widened. "Wait... 'they'?"

Sam nodded, still looking slightly embarrassed and a little too amused. "Blaine and Kurt."

Finn blinked blankly. "Blaine? Blaine is here? But... but his car's not here." He would've seen it parked at the curb. Sam nodded again.

"Yeah, I think it's back in the school lot. I guess he was planning to spend the night all along. Should've picked up on that," he mused.

"He came back with you?"

"No, Mercedes and I went for ice cream and then she drove me here. They got here a while after me. I think they thought there was no one else home. They haven't come out of there all this time. I don't know if they've been going at it all night, but it sure sounds like-"

"Going at what?" Finn asked, a little frightened of the answer. Sam snorted.

"What do you think? From what I heard, they're not exactly rehearsing for a Glee number."

Oh god. The idea of his brother and Blaine... and in the house... If Burt found out, he'd have another heart attack.

"And—and why were you listening in?" he hissed. Again, Sam turned red.

"Well, I didn't mean to-"

"Your ear was pressed to the door."

"-I was going to bed," Sam interjected, getting redder and redder, "and as I was walking past Kurt's room to get a glass of water from the kitchen, I heard..." he pressed his lips together, like he was trying to contain a smile, "moaning."

"Oh god," Finn writhed, gripping the banister.

Sam ignored his little fit and continued, still amused. "I got closer to check, and then I'm pretty sure I heard a headboard smacking against the wa-"

"LA LA LA! I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT!" Finn shouted, his hands flying up to cover his ears. Sam glared.

"Shh! They're gonna know we're here!"

"I don't care! Maybe that'll make stop! I'd like for them to stop! Or... or... I'm telling Burt. He'll kick Blaine's ass!"

Sam looked a little outraged. "You wouldn't."

"Yes, I would. Kurt would totally tell on me, and you know it. So I'm gonna do it."

"Don't be like that, man," Sam said, shaking his head. "They've been having problems, and it was pretty sad. I think we were all bummed out about that. It was weird that they were not talking to each other; Mike and Tina were actually planning an intervention. And we were all pretty relieved today, when we found out they made up. And now they're making up for lost time," he added with a smirk and a wiggle of his eyebrows, earning himself a deadly glare. "Well, aren't you happy for them?"

Finn huffed and shrugged. "Of course I am. I just..." he tried not to sound like a complete dick. "This is inappropriate."

Sam snorted louder this time. "Oh don't give me that. You and Rachel had sex here first. You're just getting worked up over two dudes going at it-"

"Please stop saying that."

"Whatever, man, he's your brother."

"Exactly. He's my little brother."

Sam rolled his eyes. "You're the same age."

Finn thought about it. "Little in size," he corrected.

"He's the same size as me. I am _not_ little," Sam frowned. "Well, actually, _everything_ is little compared to you, so you have a point."

Finn sighed and strolled to the kitchen, but Sam only followed him.

"You're just weirded out, admit it."

Finn glared. "I am not weirded out. I just... haven't gotten used to it."

"Well, you might as well start. I mean, what are you gonna do when you're in New York, and Blaine spends the first year dropping in occasionally to be with his boyfriend? You know what they're gonna want to do after not seeing each other for a while."

"I was hoping they'd just go shopping and walk around Central Park," Finn said, a little mortified.

"You're a moron," Sam said, shaking his head.

Finn sat down at the breakfast table and watched Sam pour himself a glass of water.

"Whatever, man, I just... I'm looking out for him," he said, as Sam sat down across from him. "I promised I would."

Sam gulped down the water and set the glass on the table in front of him. He frowned in confusion. "Are you actually worried about something? Because, as far as I'm concerned, those two are going the distance."

"I know that. I'm not worried about that. I'm..." Finn sighed. "I just hope Kurt doesn't get, like, sidetracked or anything. Because I know he said that part of the reason why Blaine was mad at him was because he's taking it really hard, you know, the fact that Kurt is leaving soon."

Sam nodded in understanding.

"I just hope they can figure out how to stay together in spite of that. I'd hate to see Kurt get his heart broken," Finn said.

"What about Blaine? If they can't work it out, we're stuck with him here, and he's gonna turn into the most depressing human being to be around," Sam added with a roll of his eyes. "Hell, I'm more worried about them than about me. If they can't make it, then there's no hope for the rest of us."

Finn snickered. "Come on, they'll definitively work it out," he said. "And if they don't, we'll make them."

"Deal."

They headed back upstairs, moving quickly and quietly past Kurt's door, and Finn went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he went to his room, Sam was already in bed.

"Hey, when you said you'd be 'stuck with him here'," Finn started as he came out of the closet in his pajamas, "did you mean here in my house, or here in Lima?"

Sam sat up in bed and chuckled. "Lima, I guess. Sorry, I keep thinking that I'll be living here after you guys go off to New York. Or that Blaine will still be coming here on a regular basis, too."

Finn shrugged. "You could, you know."

Sam looked confused. "Could what?"

"Stay here, I mean," Finn explained. "I don't think my mom and Burt would mind at all. In fact, I get the feeling they'd like it, still having someone in the house. I saw Burt looking at baby pictures of Kurt, and I caught my mom going through my baby clothes. I think Mr. Schue said that's called 'empty nest syndrome' or something like that."

Sam laughed but shook his head. "That's okay, dude. I don't want to impose. Plus, it would be really weird without you guys here."

Finn pushed a pile of stuff off his bed and got under the covers.

"Hey you could move in with Blaine!" he exclaimed excitedly. Sam thought about it for a moment.

"That would be cool and so totally awkward," he said finally. "Besides, we'll both be total messes once Kurt and Mercedes leave. I don't think his parents would appreciate two boys moping around all the time."

Finn gave him a sad smile. Not everyone would get to graduate with their significant others. Blaine and Sam were both getting left behind; even Tina and, by the looks of it, Brittany, would have to say goodbye to theirs. It hadn't occurred to him how lucky he was, to be graduating along with Rachel.

"We'll figure something out," he said. "We can't let you leave New Directions again, can we? Not again."

"I wasn't thinking about that," Sam grinned.

"Good, but if Blaine offers, you can't say no."

"Of course," Sam replied quickly, but his eyes widened instantly. "Wait, Finn, no! You are NOT telling him to offer!"

Finn rolled his eyes. "Why not? He might just be thinking it would be embarrassing. I'll just let him know that it's okay."

"That's exactly why! You can't say anything to him. It would be too embarrassing," Sam hissed.

"More embarrassing than eavesdropping on him having sex with my brother?"

Finn smiled mischievously as Sam's face turned red again.

"I was not eavesdropping!"

"Whatever you say, man. But it kinda looked like you had been listening in for a while."

Sam's blushed spread to his ears and neck. "It was oddly compelling," he mumbled after a moment.

"This is exactly why everyone thought you were gay last year," Finn shook his head in disapproval, laying back against the pillows. "This and your hair."

He caught Sam pouting at him hurtfully from across the room, before he switched the light off.

* * *

><p>"Wow..."<p>

Kurt stretched sleepily, smiling with self-satisfaction. "Yeah..."

Beside him, Blaine was breathing heavily still and running his hands through his hair incessantly. His perfectly gelled hair had come undone thanks to Kurt, and it was now the sweaty mess of curls that Kurt was so fond of.

"That was..." Blaine said between gasps.

"Oh yeah..."

Blaine reached for Kurt's hand and brought it to his lips, kissing his fingers and caressing his wrist in a way that made Kurt shiver.

"Why did we ever stop?" Blaine breathed against his fingers. Kurt's face fell a little.

"_You_ stopped."

"Okay, fine, why did I _ever_ want to stop?" Blaine continued, still kind of lost in his euphoria. Blaine had an affinity for saying everything that was on his mind, after sex; Kurt usually found that endearing. Not quite, this time.

"I don't know," he muttered, his voice sour. He felt the lips on his knuckles freeze for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Kurt," the boy beside him whispered. Kurt sighed.

"It's okay. I understand. Let's just forget it."

"I don't think you do. But I'm still sorry."

Kurt shook his head. "Of course I do. Look," he rolled onto his side, propping his head up on the hand that Blaine had been kissing, and looking at him, "do you honestly think I'm not scared too?"

Blaine turned his head, reaching for Kurt's other hand now and cradling to his chest, as if he were afraid to let go.

"I know I seem very confident of what I want all the time, but moving to a new city is scary, no matter what," Kurt continued. "And whatever I hope New York to be, it will never be the New York of my dreams as long as I'm there without you."

They'd had this conversation already, all throughout the day, but they kept revisiting it, as much for self-reassurance as it was for reassuring the other. What happened this week was still too fresh. They would get over it eventually.

"Sure we'll see each other in between, but I'll be counting down the days until you graduate. And I just hope this year breezes by. Otherwise, it's just gonna feel long and dreadful."

Blaine rolled onto his side too, facing Kurt, and ran his fingers across Kurt's ribs playfully.

"The more I think about it, the more I know I'll put up with anything," he said. "I'll know it'll be worth it in the end."

Kurt smiled sadly and lay on his back again, staring up at the ceiling.

"Is that all you're worried about? That New York is going to be lonely without me?"

Kurt sighed, and he guessed it was probably a very telling sigh, because he felt Blaine scoot closer.

"What's wrong?"

Kurt licked his lips.

"What if I don't even get to New York?"

There was a silence. "What?" Blaine asked, sounding a little shocked.

Kurt thought about just blurting it all out, and when he spoke again, his voice was quivering a little, because he suddenly really wanted to cry. He had been so miserable about his situation with Blaine that he had not had time to be miserable about the possibility of screwing up at the audition.

"You're right, I have done nothing but talk about my audition, and I just kept telling myself to power through this whole wait because otherwise I'm going to be a mess of nerves and still... what if I blow it? What if I don't get into NYADA after all? What if-"

"Hey! Kurt, don't say that," Blaine said, sitting up and wrapping his arms around Kurt's shoulders, pulling him into a hug. He rubbed a hand up and down Kurt's back comfortingly. "You're totally gonna get in. You're amazing, and they would be morons not to see that. You have everything you need."

"You're just saying that because we just had sex," Kurt laughed into Blaine's neck, even when there were a few tears escaping his eyes. Blaine laughed too.

"I've been saying that since we met. I've seen you, and I know you. I know how incredible you can be onstage, and I know you're going to be incredible on your audition, and they will have no choice but to take you."

Kurt pulled back and smiled at his boyfriend. "You really think so?"

"You're totally going to nail it. And I'll be right there cheering on you."

Smiling broadly, Kurt pulled him into a kiss, running his hands through Blaine's hair, while Blaine's fingers dug into his hips. He felt himself being gently pushed back onto the mattress, and Blaine's body pressing down on him, and he momentarily forgot he had just been worried about anything. Or that he had been exhausted.

Blaine stopped suddenly and looked down at Kurt.

"And what do you take me for? I don't just spout romantic stuff and compliments just to get into your pants," he protested. "I mean, it's not the only reason I do it."

Kurt smirked and pulled him back down by the neck, kissing him again.

"Relax, I do it too, remember?" he muttered against his lips. Blaine chuckled.

"Works like a charm, by the way."

They stayed like that for a long time, making out languidly, too tired to move, but too turned on to stop. Eventually they were almost drifting off to sleep, Kurt resting his head on Blaine's chest, arms looped around each other's waists.

"You know, I get the feeling there was someone else in the house, and we were being extremely loud," Blaine said sleepily. Kurt inhaled deeply.

"Don't worry. I'll print out a new schedule for them, for when my dad and Carole are out of town," he replied just as drowsily. "And if Finn and Sam don't like it, then can go sleep elsewhere."

He felt the rumble of quiet laughter in Blaine's chest. "Seriously?"

"I think it's polite to give them a heads up. Especially since this will be going on until graduation."

"I'm looking forward to that," Blaine said with a yawn.

* * *

><p>In the morning, Finn and Sam were the first downstairs for breakfast, still in their pajamas. Kurt and Blaine stepped into the kitchen only a few minutes later, already dressed and ready for school.<p>

"Good morning," Kurt said nonchalantly, pulling eggs and herbs from the fridge and fetching a frying pan, and ignoring the looks his brother was shooting him.

Meanwhile, Finn noticed that Blaine was wearing one of Kurt's shirts, and he tried not to think about the two of them possibly showering together and dressing together and, ugh, why did he have to think about that? He glanced at Sam, who was looking at Blaine over the rim of his cereal bowl, as Blaine poured himself some orange juice.

"What?" Blaine asked innocently. Sam shook his head, but he smiled like he was resisting the urge to fist-bump him. And Finn resisted the urge to smack Sam.

Finn shook his head, trying to ignore the lingering awkwardness in the air. At least there were no parents in the vicinity.

He leaned against the counter, eating his cereal, and watched as Kurt made some fancy omelette for himself and Blaine, and he noticed the smile playing at the corners of his lips, and heard the low hum of a song as he cooked, and Finn forgot how mortified and outraged he felt last night. He _did_ feel happy for them, for working things out between them. There was something so homely and welcoming and grown-up about the moment, and Finn liked it.

He suddenly felt like they were real adults.

"Finn, you've got milk on your chin, neck and t-shirt. You look like a toddler learning to eat," Kurt said, bringing him out of his reverie.

Finn grimaced as he reached for a napkin and wiped the milk that had dribbled down his chin from the spoonful of cereal he had just shoved into his mouth.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye as Kurt set a plate of omelette down in front of Blaine and planted a kiss on his forehead, and he smiled to himself.

"Wait, so if I'm not sleeping with Kurt, I don't get an omelette?" Sam asked jokingly.

While Blaine turned very red and Finn choked on his cereal, Kurt smacked Sam into silence.

* * *

><p><em>Oh wow, I'm getting the graduation blues. That Klaine scene had me listening to sad music and everything.<em>

_I mean, what if Kurt doesn't get into NYADA after all? I will hire someone to rip RIB to shreds or something. Or mostly I will hide under the covers and cry in a fetal position forever (or until next tuesday, at least)._

_And where is Sam going to live once Finn and Kurt graduate? How badly do I want Blaine to offer as host for next season? Just please don't move in with Joe. Joe sucks._

_I wrote a 'nook' for the previous episode, "Saturday Night Glee-ver", about Kurt and Blaine practicing the choreography they dance for "More than a woman", with Sam providing unhelpful commentary. But considering that 1) I was never sure if that was a Finn dream sequence or an actual choreography they do in the choir room, and 2) the fact that we find out that Blaine and Kurt were having couple issues all that time, I decided to bypass it. But I could use it for later. We'll see._


	7. Chapter 7

_I'm getting lazy._

_I also had the worst writer's block this week._

_For the first time, it's Carole's p.o.v. Can't forget about Carole. I miss Carole. Hopefully with graduation coming up, we'll get plenty of the Hudmels. And I'll be so freaking happy I will cry endlessly._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. It belongs to RIB, the writers, and FOX._

* * *

><p><strong>Nooks and Crannies (a.k.a it's going to be okay)<strong>

by HappyValentina

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

"We're home!" Burt announced, as he held the door open for Carole. He closed it and set down their suitcase by the umbrella stand. They stood in the foyer, removing their coats, and listening for signs of life in the house.

"Finn? Kurt? Sam?" Carole called. There was no one in the living room or the kitchen. She walked toward the stairs, when Kurt suddenly appeared at the foot of the staircase.

"Oh hey! For a moment we thought you were all gone," she greeted him, pulling him into a hug.

"I just got here too," he said.

"Hey buddy!" Burt said, walking up behind Carole and tugging his son to plant a kiss on the top of his head. "So, how did it go? You realize that I didn't call you beforehand because I wanted to get the news in person."

Carole gripped her husband's arm, as if trying to restrain him, because from the look on Kurt's face, the audition hadn't gone that well.

However, Kurt smiled.

"I nailed it," he said, a little smugly.

Carole breathed a sigh of relief, as Burt practically scooped Kurt up into a giant bear hug, laughing so hard that they looked like they would fall over.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Burt shouted, setting his son down on the floor again. Kurt looked predictably concerned about his father, but he and Carole both knew that there was no point anymore in warning Burt about minding his heart.

"It still doesn't mean that I get into NYADA, but it's a pretty good indication. We just have to wait and see," Kurt said, as Carole hugged and kissed him as well.

"You'll get in, you'll see," Burt said. "If they're really as prestigious as they claim to be, then they would have to be complete idiots not to take you." Carole elbowed him playfully.

"What? It's true! Hey, where are Finn and Blaine? We should all go out to dinner."

Carole was about to say something regarding a long wait at the airport and then on the runway, and just wanting to kick back and rest after a long week, but she wasn't about to deflate Burt's enthusiasm like that. Besides, as Burt had said, it had been a very long time since they'd had their traditional family dinner.

"Dad, I'm sorry, but Blaine and I already went out for dinner. He insisted," Kurt smiled apologetically.

"Oh well, maybe this weekend," Burt said with a shrug. "Still," he added, leading them both toward the kitchen, "we should have a toast in your honor, how about that? We have the champagne that was meant for Finn and Rachel's wedding, we can always get more for when they retake the wedding thing. Hopefully not for another decade, maybe," Burt muttered the last part, earning another playful elbow from his wife. He fished one of the bottles from the fridge, and looked for the corkscrew.

"That's good, I could use some champagne right now," Carole said, fetching the glasses. "Seriously, where are Finn and Blaine? And Rachel, we should toast to her too, right?"

"Finn and Blaine are back at school, they were meeting with the rest of the guys in Glee club. They said something about helping Puck cram for a test tomorrow. I offered to help, but Blaine dropped me off here, saying that I should rest, since I've been so jittery about the audition lately," Kurt said, sitting down at the table. "Though I think Finn might've opted out too, to be with Rachel."

Carole's heart sank. "Did something happen to her?"

Kurt took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Rachel choked," he said. "On her audition. She had to start over twice, but Carmen Tibideau wouldn't let her. She did not take it well."

"Oh," Carole said, her face falling. No wonder Kurt wasn't more excited. And probably why Finn hadn't been answering his phone. Carole had tried, unbeknownst to Burt, to find out from her son how the auditions had gone, before they had to board the plane back home.

"Who's Carmen Tibideaux?" Burt asked.

"The dean of vocal performance and song interpretation at NYADA. She's tough."

"This is insane," Burt said. "Rachel is talented, really talented. She deserved this too. What's up with that woman?"

"Maybe she was right. They have very high standards. You don't get away with forgetting lyrics or losing your cool," Kurt said with another sigh. "I just don't know how this happened to Rachel. She seemed to be so... collected. She's a natural. I didn't expect this at all."

Carole sat beside him at the table and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. "No one did, honey," she replied. "But it's going to be okay."

"I don't know what's going to happen now."

"Rachel is a good girl, she's very talented, and she's very resourceful."

"Not to mention persistent," Burt added.

"She'll work something out," Carole reassured him, and Kurt nodded slowly.

"I hope so."

"Still up for some champagne?" Burt asked, holding up the bottle. Kurt took a deep breath again, glancing at his parents, and finally shrugged.

"Sure, why not?"

"Atta, boy," Burt said, as he went about uncorking the bottle. It came out with a loud pop. Carole felt suddenly very happy. The last time they'd had champagne -besides New Year's eve- was at hers and Burt's wedding. There was something so special about having a family with whom to celebrate certain occasions with champagne.

That, and champagne was delicious anyway.

"Wait, shouldn't we wait for Finn? And Blaine will be stopping by too, right? That's his car outside," she asked.

"Well, they're helping Puckerman study European geography," Kurt pointed out.

"So?"

"That's gonna take them ages."

Carole made a face; Kurt was probably right. Noah Puckerman was not the brightest kid, and boy was he stubborn and hotheaded.

"I'm not sure I'm okay with this. It's a school night," she shook her head.

"Honey, they're out late because they're helping their friend study. I think we can cut them some slack," Burt said, filling three glasses with champagne

"To Kurt," he started, as they lifted their glasses.

Burt cleared his throat to make a speech, but halfway through forgot what he was trying to say, got overly emotional, and pulled Kurt into another crushing hug. After they finished, they stowed the rest of the champagne back in the fridge, and the three of them headed upstairs, with Burt promising an official celebration this weekend, with Finn and Blaine and anyone else who wanted to tag along.

* * *

><p>Burt was fast asleep when Carole decided to stop laying awake in bed, and got up carefully. She glanced at the clock. 4:12 a.m. She had no idea whether Finn and Sam had gotten back yet or not.<p>

Wrapping her robe around her, she left the room quietly. Maybe some tea would help her catch the last couple of hours of sleep before she had to get up and go about things, like getting her kids out of bed; if they were even in bed at all.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted from the kitchen and greeted her as she reached the bottom of the stairs. She walked into the kitchen and stared curiously at a bed-headed Kurt sitting at the table.

"Hey," he greeted her sleepily.

"Hey, sweetie, what are you doing up?" she asked in surprise. She went to kiss the top of his head, as she always did when he was sitting down and it was the only chance she ever could, since he always towered over her. She ruffled his hair a little as well, since it was already messy, and it was the only way he'd ever let anyone do it.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that I'm not going back to sleep, so I made coffee" he mumbled through a yawn. "Blaine texted me that they're on their way, so I got up to wait for him."

"How did the study session go?"

"I guess it went well, hopefully. I know Puckerman's not exactly my favorite person, but it would kinda suck if he didn't get to graduate."

"True."

"Plus, I think Coach Sylvester and Principal Figgins would both have nervous breakdowns if they have to deal with him for another year."

Carole laughed and shook her head. She grabbed a mug and poured herself a little coffee. So much for getting a couple of hours of sleep now.

"You know, Blaine shouldn't drive home when he's so tired," she started, stirring some milk into her coffee. "He should stay."

Kurt's eyes practically bugged out of their sockets. "Really?" he asked hesitantly.

"Sure. Wouldn't want him to get into an accident for falling asleep at the wheel, would we? I think we've had enough accidents to last a lifetime," she replied, sitting down beside him.

There was a silence, as Kurt's eyes darted around before settling on her again. He probably thought she was teasing him.

"Carole, my dad would kill us," he whispered, like he was afraid Burt would actually overhear. "He'd kill Blaine first and make me watch, then he'd kill _me._ Twice. Somehow."

Carole laughed. "Oh, come on! You don't think we're so naive as to think you don't do anything while we're away?"

Kurt froze, his eyes wider still, and he turned the brightest shade of pink she had ever seen on him. Carole couldn't help but enjoy herself a bit, embarrassing her stepson like that.

"Now, I know you two are good, sensitive, smart, careful boys, but I'm always a little worried about Finn and Rachel. I know my son can get a little too enthusiastic about things, I just hope they're being careful too. I wouldn't want another scare like we had with Quinn."

Kurt looked a little like he wanted to jump into his mug of coffee and drown.

"And I know it's not my place, but I trust Sam is not being reckless either. I know he and Mercedes are kind of back together, but hopefully they're not letting that get to their heads."

Kurt cleared his throat and basically hid behind his mug. She chuckled and patted his arm.

"Relax, honey. I was a teenager too, once. And so was your dad."

Kurt blushed deeper still, and just looked a little bit more mortified. Carole thought it best to stop teasing him like that.

"Just... leave the door open," she added with a wink. Kurt inhaled deeply.

"Fine, but if Blaine and I are murdered, it'll be on your conscience," he muttered, looking sulky into his coffee mug.

Carole laughed again. Maybe it was the taste and smell of coffee so early in the morning, but she felt so comforted, sitting here with Kurt, just talking. They used to do that a lot at the beginning. Back when Kurt was still in Dalton, she'd make sure they had little talks like this to catch up on things, fashion, cooking, decoration. After a while, all they managed to talk about was Blaine.

She missed those talks.

"Honey, I'm so proud of you," she suddenly said.

Kurt looked up from his coffee tentatively.

"I'm so happy for you, for everything you have accomplished, and I'm so very happy that I get to be a part of it," Carole continued, hoping that she wouldn't get misty-eyed for the first time, talking about these things. Kurt smiled at her.

"And you're gonna get into NYADA, I can feel it. And you'll go to New York, and I know the wait is going to be almost unbearable, but you and Blaine are going to be together in New York by next year. And you're going to be fantastic in NYADA, and we'll go to all your big Broadway shows, and you'll be amazing every time." She paused. "And Rachel will be there too. I don't know how, but I know she will. Because it's Rachel and this is her dream. And you can't take a dream away from Rachel Berry, can you?"

Kurt chuckled and shook his head. "I guess not."

Carole patted his arm again. She wanted to mention two big, happy weddings in New York as well, because New York was like a magical land where anyone could get married, even two lovely boys from Ohio. But she shouldn't get ahead of herself.

"Thanks, Carole," Kurt said, squeezing her hand.

Just then, they heard a car pull into the driveway, and Kurt got up and walked out of the kitchen. Carole stood up as well and walked behind Kurt.

Sam pushed the door open, careful not to make a sound.

"Hey, man, congratulations on your audition," he whispered, pulling Kurt into a quick hug.

"Hey, why are you up? We didn't wake you, did we?" Finn asked, coming in just behind Sam, yawning like a bear.

"Well, Blaine texted me. He left his car here," Kurt said, pointing to his boyfriend, who walked in just then.

"Yeah, I'm just picking up my car and stopping by for a goodnight k- Carole, h-hi," Blaine turned red, stopping two inches from Kurt, when he spotted Carole just inside the kitchen.

"Actually, if you don't mind, I prefer you sleep here," Carole smiled.

"What?" Blaine asked in surprise.

"What?" Finn exclaimed, making a face of utter indignation.

Sam bit his lip to keep from laughing. Carole had to do it, too.

"You shouldn't be driving right now. You're too tired," she explained.

"I drove here and I'm very tired," Finn retorted. Carole shot him a look.

"Blaine lives even further. And Finn, I'm the parent here, so _excuse me, _I make the calls, don't I?"

Finn snapped his mouth shut, pouting and frowning like a scorned child.

"Off to bed, all of you," Carole ordered, waving them all upstairs.

"Um... okay..." Blaine said, looking at Kurt in confusion. Kurt maintained the stoniest face as he grabbed his hand and led him upstairs, just behind the two other boys. Sam was shaking with contained laughter, and Finn kept hitting him on the back for it.

Carole watched them go, stepping back for a second to switch off the kitchen light, before heading upstairs after them. _My boys_, she thought endearingly. How much she was going to miss them very soon.

* * *

><p><em>Not much to say, except 'sorry for the lateness'. Hope you enjoyed it.<em>

_-Valentina_


	8. Chapter 8

_Someone said they love the Finn and Sam friendship, and that I should get Puck in on this. Not sure if this is what they meant, but when I read "Puck", this is what came to mind, and I just had to do it. It's also partly inspired by the sheer amount of Puck being a sweetheart in this episode._

_This one is alternatively called "Adventures in babysitting drunk friends". It's just silly, it's very different (I feel) from the previous chapters in this series. It also barely takes place in the Hummel-Hudson residence. But it was fun to do, and it involves almost all the boys. Next chapter, hopefully I can get Mike, Rory and Artie into the equation. (But not Joe, no. Sorry, but Joe is not my cup of tea.)_

_This is Finn's p.o.v._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. It belongs to RIB, the writers, and FOX._

* * *

><p><strong>Nooks and Crannies (a.k.a it's going to be okay)<strong>

by HappyValentina

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

"I can't believe you spiked the punch!"

"Dude, I had to! It was the perfect opportunity."

Finn glared at Puck over the rearview mirror. He was driving furiously, and nervously, with a car loaded with people who were currently unfit to drive themselves home.

"But you said it was only a small flask. How did the whole gym get drunk on one small flask?"

Puck rolled his eyes. "Well... when I realized how easy it had been, I might've thrown in... a few more."

"How many?"

"Um..."

"Puck, how many?"

"I don't know, dude, I lost count after the first dozen."

Finn huffed and gripped the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles started to go white.

"Honey, honey, honey, shh, 's okay," Rachel said, leaning over the console and against Finn's shoulder, running her hands up and down his cheeks.

"It's not okay! I had to carry you to the car!" Finn exclaimed.

For some reason Rachel found that hilarious and started giggling. Finn rolled his eyes; everything had been going so well; this time prom had been awesome, so different from last year, when he was kicked out for fighting, and his brother was humiliated. This year he won prom king, and his girlfriend was crowned too, against all odds -he still had no idea how that happened, but it was great-, and no one was shamed in public. Even better, Quinn got up and _walked_. It had been the best night ever.

Until Puck showed up.

He should've done something to stop it; he should've figured out in time how odd it was that Rory was laughing with the hockey team as if they were old friends; or that Blaine and Kurt were actually _kissing_ in the middle of the dance floor and _no one_ made a big deal about it; or that Mr. Schue got on stage to rap (well, actually that wasn't so odd); or that Tina was crying inconsolably (wait, no, also not out of the ordinary). It actually took Rachel chatting up one of the dinosaur decorations and Artie starting a conga line, to realize that the party was definitively out of control, and that there must have been an explanation for it, and that it definitively had 'Noah Puckerman' written all over it.

"You know Coach Sylvester is gonna figure out it was you who did it," Finn pointed out. Puck snorted.

"I doubt it. She saw I was with Becky all night. She'd never think that of her, and Becky promised to never tell on me."

"Finn, can you pull over for a second, please?" Rachel mumbled into Finn's shoulder.

"Sure. Are you sick? Do you need to throw up?" he asked, slowing down to a full stop.

"No, I just really need you to take that jacket and shirt off, b'cuz they're totally on my way, an' it's driving me insaaaaane," she slurred, wearing the goofiest smile, as she tried to slide her hands between the buttons of his shirt. Finn slapped her hand away and groaned.

"Rachel, stop! You're being weird! I have to get you home. Oh my god, your dads are gonna kill me!"

"Finn, would you relax? Just enjoy yourself," Puck said, folding his arms behind his head. "Epic prom, dude. Turned out pretty cool, if you ask m-OOF!"

"Mmmsorryhmm," Blaine mumbled, detaching his lips from Kurt's for barely a second; they _still_ making out. Puck rubbed the spot where Blaine had just accidentally elbowed him on the ribs and tried to scoot away from them.

"Guys, mind taking it easy back there?" Finn said over his shoulder, shooting them dirty looks.

Kurt and Blaine didn't hear him, or pretended not to. On Puck's other side, Sam and Mercedes were also being uncharacteristically affectionate in front of other people.

Puck didn't look too happy either, about being sandwiched between the two couples. Once or twice, one of Mercedes' feet rubbed up against his leg by mistake; Kurt was making some very obscene, very distracting noises as he tangled his hands in Blaine's unruly hair; and Blaine kept elbowing Puck whenever he pulled Kurt closer.

"Seriously, guys, please stop. It's crammed enough as it is," Finn groaned, keeping his eyes on the road while occasionally swatting at Rachel's hands. "Rachel, stop that!"

"Hey, let's go somewhere!" Rachel exclaimed suddenly, bouncing in her seat. The two couples in the backseat and Puck chorused her.

"No, let's just get you home, okay? Let's get you all home."

"No, come on, Finn! Let's go back to the hotel and do something fun!"

"Yeah!" everyone else shouted again.

"I don't think so, Rache," Finn replied.

"No, no, you don't, but I DO! I'm prom queen, and you shall do as I say!" Rachel pouted, tugging at his sleeve like a five-year-old.

Finn took a deep breath to stay calm while still keeping a death grip on the steering wheel. He glared again at Puck's reflection in the mirror, but Puck just grinned back, rather amused and self-satisfied.

* * *

><p>"Okay, guys, <em>seriously<em>, _please_ be quiet, okay? We can't risk waking up Burt or my mom," Finn instructed in a low voice as he walked around the car.

First stop was his own house; Finn thought it best to drop off Kurt and Sam first, so Burt wouldn't kill them. Then he'd drop Rachel off, so that her dads wouldn't kill him, then Mercedes because her dad was a bit scary too, and finally Blaine, who lived the farthest. Puck would make the rounds with him, since it was the only payback Finn could think of right then for getting his girlfriend drunk at prom.

Sam was shaking his head vigorously, like he was trying to shake off the haze, while Kurt was leaning against the car door, clawing at the window. On the other side, Blaine was clawing back, his nose squished against the glass.

"Bye, Blaine, I love you."

"I love you too."

"I love youuuu."

"Love youuuu."

"I love you more."

"No, I love _you_ more."

"No, I-"

"Okay!" Puck exclaimed, scrunching his nose in annoyance. "Time to go, buddy," he grabbed Kurt by the back of his shirt and dragged him away from the car. They headed to the front door, while Finn signaled Rachel to stay put. Rachel, however, was misting the glass with her breath and drawing hearts on it with her fingers and blowing him kisses, and Finn was trying to keep a straight face because he was still mad about the whole thing, but that was really funny. On the back seat, Mercedes was laughing hysterically about something.

"Come on, Sam," Finn pulled Sam along by the sleeve of his jacket. At the entrance, Kurt still hadn't managed to open the door. Puck tried to take the keys from Kurt, but he kept slapping his hands away.

"Kurt, give Puck the keys!" Finn hissed irritably, startling Kurt. His brother whipped around so fast in surprise, that he toppled over, accidentally bringing Puck down with him as he clutched at the boy for balance. Finn slapped his own forehead in frustration.

"Oooow, Puckerman, get off!"

"You pulled me down! And give me the keys!"

"Get off! No!"

"Give them to me!"

Sam started giggling like an idiot, and Finn smacked him. "Everyone shut up," he hissed again. "Get up now and stop making so much noise." He snatched the keys from Kurt, stepped over them and opened the door as quietly as he could.

The house was silent. He walked in carefully and checked the kitchen and the living room to see if either one of his parents were waiting up for them.

"Coast is clear, come on-" he whispered, but was interrupted by a loud yelp. Sam had tried stepping over the others as well, but his foot got caught and he fell on top of the pile.

"Augh... Sam, you kneed me... in the stomach," Kurt winced. Sam burst out laughing again.

"You guys are pathetic," Puck shook his head as he untangled himself from the other two boys.

"I'm gonna kill you all. Now get up," Finn said, pulling his brother up forcefully. He was really starting to lose his temper. He led them all toward the stairs quickly.

"Okay, _seriously_ now, I really, _really_ need you guys to stay quiet. Kurt, Sam, you know Burt would kill us all if he saw you guys like this."

"Okay."

"Okay."

Kurt tentatively climbed one step, but promptly lost his balance awkwardly and smacked his entire body onto the wall, making a loud noise. Sam was shaking with contained laughter.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Finn hissed, grabbing Kurt's arm. He tried to pull him along, but Kurt stumbled noisily again. "Stop that!" Finn nearly shouted.

"It's like Bambi learning how to walk," Puck said.

"Kurt, would you please walk like a normal person?"

"I'm sorry, but the stairs keep moving!"

"This is ridiculous," Puck murmured; he left Sam hanging on to the banister and walked up to Kurt's other side. "On the count of three, or we'll never make it upstairs. One, two, three!"

Finn Puck picked Kurt up by his armpits, and the two boys practically carried him upstairs.

"Whoa yay!" Kurt laughed, kicking his feet a little.

"Kurt, please stop shouting, stop moving, and stop making that face," Puck grunted as they set him down on the landing.

"What face?"

"Like you're enjoying yourself. You're not on a roller-coaster."

"But this is fun, guys!"

Finn didn't know whether to laugh or smack him. "Sam, stay here, we'll come back for you."

"No, no, I can do this," the other boy said, and he started crawling up the stairs with one hand on the floor and the other gripping the banister. "I just wish everything would... stop spinning," he mumbled.

"Atta, boy, you'll get there some day," Puck joked, and he and Finn picked Kurt up again.

"Here we go, bro," Finn whispered as they dragged Kurt into his room.

"Now, we're gonna put you guys to bed, and then we're gonna go drop off the others, so I'll be gone for a while. So whatever you do, please stay in your room, please stay asleep, please don't start singing in the middle of the night. Otherwise you'll get us in trouble."

"You know you guys could just blame it all on me, right? I don't care," Puck said with a shrug.

Finn looked a little sad at that statement. Puck had been acting very different all week, since flunking European Geography and blowing any chances he had of graduating this year. But he still kept a brave face on; and Finn had no idea how he managed.

Kurt took off his hat and dropped it on his dresser, and shook his head. "No, no, you're already in enough trouble," he said, patting Puck on the shoulder sympathetically. "And you probably won't have another chance of getting me into trouble, anyway. Besides, it was fun. And I say that now, knowing very well that tomorrow I'm gonna feel like crap. But I won't tell, I promise."

He crossed his heart, and Finn and Puck exchanged puzzled looks. Alcohol sure brought out a funny side in Kurt. But Puck smiled and patted Kurt's back in return.

"Thanks, buddy."

"Alright, we're gonna go now," Finn started, just as Kurt tried to take his shoes off standing up and fell over with a loud thud. He sighed tiredly.

"Kurt, just please, get into bed, I'm begging you."

"I never thought I'd hear you say that," Puck joked. Finn glared and pointed for him to pick Kurt up by his armpits, while he got his feet.

"Okay, we're gonna put you in bed, and you just... just stay there, okay?"

"Wait, this is Marc Jacobs new collection!" Kurt exclaimed, but the boys had already tossed him onto the bed. Kurt sat up with a bounce and looked around, wide-eyed. "Whoa, strong déjà vu there, guys."

Finn and Puck looked at each other again, almost shocked. It had been a while since Kurt had been the victim of dumpster-tossing at their hands. How things had changed since then; how much they had changed themselves. Who would've thought that they would've been all friends, brothers even. And soon everything would change again.

Kurt thought for a moment and then shrugged, crawling under the blankets. "Thanks for the ride up, guys," he said through a yawn. He was still fully dressed. Finn shook his head; Kurt would probably freak out in the morning when he found he had gone to bed without doing his skin routine or changing his clothes, and on top of that he'd be massively hungover. It would be a difficult morning. Maybe he should force Puck to stay over and deal with it.

"Hey, you made it, buddy," Puck whispered, seeing Sam walking up haphazardly with both hands firmly on the doorframe. Sam looked both dizzy and triumphant as he held on to Kurt's dresser.

"No, don't come in here. If you throw up in Kurt's room, we'll never hear the end of it," Finn warned him, but Sam kept going, letting go of the dresser for a second to support himself on Puck.

"Bed. Make it stop. Need sleep," Sam murmured.

"Sam, this isn't your bed," Finn said.

"But mine's too far," Sam replied, as he climbed up, laying down on top of the blankets, next to Kurt.

"No, Sam, you don't know what you're getting yourself into. If Kurt wakes up sober and finds you here, he'll smack you unconscious."

But Sam was already snoring. Finn looked to Puck for help.

"Don't look at me, man, he's heavier. I'm not carrying him anywhere."

Finn sneered. "This is all your fault."

"They'll be fine. They'll be too hungover to hurt each other. With our luck, they'll wake up spooning, and we'll have a really funny story to share. Let's just go."

With a sigh of resignation, Finn followed Puck. "What about Burt? What if he walks in and finds them?" he asked as they went downstairs. "This already happened once, and it wasn't pretty."

They were not entirely surprised to find Blaine pretty much sprawled across the bottom steps.

"Speaking of the devil," Finn muttered. Blaine looked up at them and made a puppy face.

"I tripped."

Finn rolled his eyes. "I can see that. Come on, Blaine, time to go home," he said, as he and Puck lifted him and dragged him backwards toward the entrance.

"I just wanted to kiss Kurt goodnight," Blaine said.

"You already put-your-tongue-down-his-throat goodnight for about fifteen minutes. I think you'll survive the rest of the night," Puck retorted. Blaine pouted.

"Okay, maybe just a cuddle?"

"Don't worry, Sam's taking care of that."

"He's _what_?" Blaine exclaimed.

"He's _kidding_," Finn interjected, shooting Puck a look.

As they walked to the car, Blaine started on his own, slightly too loud rendition of 'Take my breath away', and they had to practically shove Blaine back in the car.

"I tried to stop him," Mercedes told Finn.

"Really? How hard?" he asked sarcastically.

She burst out laughing in response. Finn shook his head in annoyance.

As he turned on the ignition, he got a text from his mom.

"_Why are Kurt and Sam drunk, why are they sleeping together, and where are you?"_

Finn decided the best thing was to ignore her for now, and pulled out of the driveway quickly, as the two girls and Blaine started singing 'Endless love'. Puck looked a bit like he might kill someone. _Serves him right_, Finn thought, just as annoyed.

Just as he reached the corner, his phone rang. Finn winced and stopped the car on the side of the road. "Hi mom," he said, trying to hear over the singing.

"You better not be drunk-driving, mister," Carole's dangerously-low voice came over the speaker.

"Don't worry. I'm 100% sober, and on my way to drop Rachel, Puck, Mercedes and Blaine off at their homes, since they're in no condition to drive," he explained.

"MY! ENDLESS! LOOOOOOVE!"

"... as you can probably tell already."

"Why are you the designated driver? Or better yet, why did you need a designated driver when you were at prom where they don't sell alcohol?"

"Um, it's a long story, I'll tell you about it tomorrow. But the important thing is, everyone is okay. It's gonna be okay."

There was a silence on the line, and then he heard his mother sigh deeply.

"Did you at least have fun?"

Finn glanced again at the others, who had somehow gotten Puck to crack a smile and join them in a drunken version of 'Don't worry, be happy'.

"A blast," Finn replied, smiling in spite of himself.

"Good," his mother said, and he almost heard her smiling over the line. "But Finn, when you get back, make sure to wake Sam up and get him to sleep in his own bed. If Kurt wakes up sober and finds him there, he's gonna smack him unconscious."

Finn chuckled. "Will do."

* * *

><p><em>So, following up on 'Blame it on the alcohol', Rachel is the clingy drunk, Mercedes is the happy drunk, and Kurt has guys passing out next to him in bed. Also, I have deduced that Blaine is kinda slutty and sings when he's drunk, Sam likes to make out, and Finn really hates being the designated driver. But why is Puck sober? Because apparently this was all about watching everyone else make fools of themselves.<em>

_Also, Kurt can't hold his liquor, and Sam has balance problems because of water in his ears from swimming. Hence the trouble getting anywhere on their feet. _

_Meanwhile, Burt is a heavy sleeper, but Carole has got that sixth sense that only moms have, and that keeps them awake at night until their kids are tucked safely in bed. Imagine her surprise when she found her son was absent and her stepson and houseguest were mysteriously both in the same bed, sleeping in their tuxes and smelling like alcohol. Carole Hudson is NOT happy._

_(In other words, I wish I had expanded on Carole's feelings in this chapter. Also, h__appy mother's day, moms! Sorry we put you through turmoil like this.)_

_Thanks for reading!_

_-Valentina_


	9. Chapter 9

_This is Puck's p.o.v. __He's not a resident in the Hummel-Hudson home, but he's there a lot lately. All the boys are. They're graduating, they need to spend as much time together as they can. And besides:_

_"You don't have any preference, either way, about who Puck ends up with?"_

_"What about Kurt? What about a little Purt episode?"_

_No, I don't ship them romantically. But as Mark says in that interview, I wish they had joined forces in some way, before the end of the season._

_Also inspired by the Glee Superlatives, in which Chris confesses to being the biggest brainiac, and spouting European history facts all the time that no one cares about. Also in the Regis & Kelly interview with Jimmy Kimmel, when he said he took AP European History. Why does that not surprise me? Stupid sexy nerd... ugh..._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. It belongs to RIB, the writers, and FOX._

* * *

><p><strong>Nooks and Crannies<strong>

by HappyValentina

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

"So... where exactly did you get that dress, _Lola_?"

Puck sighed and put his pencil down for a second, frowning at Kurt.

"Can we not talk about that? I do have a lot to study, and you do have a lot to help me with."

"Just curious," Kurt shrugged, trying to hide his amused smile. Puck rolled his eyes and went back to poring over his book and taking notes.

Puck was studying European Geography. _Again_. He knew he was lucky that he was getting to retake the test; heck, he was lucky that Coach Beiste had spoken on his behalf on the whole issue. But after she had told him that he was getting another chance, he panicked, because he still had no idea how he was going to pass this time. He still hated European Geography, and all those facts and city names just would not stick.

Until he thought of Kurt.

It occurred to him that week, when he overheard Kurt talking to Blaine and making some joke about the president of France and his wife that apparently was really funny.

Why hadn't he thought of Kurt before? He was clearly the biggest nerd when it came to Europe. Puck could have probably passed the test the first time if Kurt had tutored him. Sure, the other guys were really helpful, but if there was one person who was always spouting random facts about countries in Europe, who spoke French perfectly -or at least it sounded perfect to Puck-, and who knew scarily enough about the British royals, it was Kurt Hummel. And maybe, with his mad organizational skills, he would have found a way for Puck to learn everything he needed in no time.

That, or he might have driven Puck mad.

But Kurt had been preoccupied with his NYADA audition at the time. This time, however, regardless of their tight rehearsal schedule for Nationals, he had to get Kurt to tutor him. It was his only hope. If he waited until after Nationals, he wouldn't have enough time. So he risked Rachel Berry's and Sue Sylvester's wraths, and asked Kurt to help him.

Kurt, organized as always, made him a schedule for studying during every free period, every free minute, any second that Rachel wasn't looking; he arranged a couple of study sessions after school, and even made him a mock test. Puck wondered suddenly if he had made a mistake.

Kurt sat cross-legged on the couch in his living room, looking over a map and a set of flash-cards he was making to test Puck at random.

"Which is the smallest country in Europe?" he asked.

"Um..." Puck scrunched his face up in concentration.

"Hint: it's also the smallest country in the world."

"Oh! Oh, I know this one, I know it..."

"Another hint: there are only guys in it. Old guys, all in _dresses_, by the way, and funny hats."

Puck gave him a weird look because he thought that he was joking.

"...The Vatican?" he answered tentatively.

"Yes," Kurt smirked. Puck mentally fist-bumped himself.

"And that wig. It had a subtle Ginger Rogers feel to it, with a bit of Marilyn Monroe, and I can't help but feel you've been watching old musicals or _Smash_."

Puck rolled his eyes again. "What? No!"

"That's not a bad thing, Puckerman. It's okay if you watch musicals. I encourage you to. Especially Ginger Rogers. She's brilliant."

"Look, it was the cheapest wig I could find, and I was just trying to prove a point. Would you let it go?"

"Sorry, it was just really funny and weird," Kurt said with a small laugh. "Largest country in Europe."

"Russia?"

"Capital?"

"Moscow."

"Good."

Oh, he was so going to nail that test this time. Puck tapped his pencil happily on his book.

"On the other hand, you said I have no balls."

Puck looked up at Kurt, confused. Kurt's eyes were fixed on the map on his lap.

"What? When did I say that?"

"When you walked into the choir room wearing the most hideous dress and wig combo ever," Kurt said nonchalantly. "Largest city in Europe?"

"I didn't say you had no balls," Puck retorted. Kurt glanced up.

"Yes, you pretty much did. You said someone had to have the balls to do what was needed to win the competition," he replied. "And since I was the one being coaxed into wearing a dress for Nationals, and I refused, then you must have mean me."

Puck wasn't sure if Kurt was angry or hurt or just trying to make him feel bad. But that really hadn't occurred to him when he said that.

"Dude, I swear I didn't mean you. I was talking to all the guys. Any of them could've offered when you refused, but they didn't. I almost thought Finn would have. I mean, he's your brother, and plus he seemed to really like it that time he dressed up as Lady Gaga. I was sure he'd at least consider it," he explained defensively. "Not that any of us wants to see _him_ in that flapper dress."

Kurt chuckled. "True. Largest volcano in Europe?"

Puck thought for a moment. "Etna."

"Which is in...?"

"Sicily."

"_Bravo._"

Puck smirked again, self-satisfied. He skimmed the page for a moment, but stopped in the middle of jotting down something.

"I don't think that," he said, looking up at Kurt again. Kurt stared at him in confusion.

"That you have no balls, I mean," Puck added. "I think you're actually pretty ballsy."

Kurt chuckled again, but didn't look too convinced that Puck was being serious at all.

"No, seriously. I heard you nailed your NYADA audition by changing the song at the last minute, ripping off your clothes and dancing around in gold pants? Come on, that takes guts."

Kurt blushed a little. "When you put it like that, it sounds so inappropriate. Who told you I ripped my clothes off?"

"Finn."

Kurt shook his head. "Typical. I didn't just strip or something, I had another outfit underneath."

"Still. Guts," Puck said with a shrug.

"Okay."

"Plus, you went to spy on Vocal Adrenaline for us," Puck continued. "You went to spy on the Warblers when I told you last year. Although I have to say, you got a boyfriend out of the whole thing, and you haven't thanked me for that yet."

Kurt narrowed his eyes and tried to hide his smile.

"Also, you came back to McKinley even when you were probably safer in Dalton. And you wore a skirt to last year's prom, and then you went up on a stage and got crowned Prom Queen." Puck nodded slowly. "That's all pretty ballsy in my book."

Kurt sighed. "Okay, I get it. You don't think I'm a wimp or something."

"No, I actually think you're pretty brave."

Kurt bit his lip to keep from smiling. "Well, thank you, Puckerman. That means a lot coming from the guy who used to toss me into dumpsters almost every day."

Puck rolled his eyes. "Do you always have to bring that up? I think I've more than made up for it."

Kurt nodded. "You're right. It's time to put the past behind."

Puck went back to taking notes silently, while Kurt was flipping through an almanac. He snuck a glance at him for a moment, thinking that he wanted to say something, but didn't know what. It suddenly occurred to him that Kurt was being rather nice to him, when he had always been under the impression that he really resented him for the aforementioned dumpster-tosses and slushies and that time that the football team nailed all of Kurt's patio furniture to the roof -which, in retrospect, didn't make much sense to him-.

He realized that Kurt was a much more decent person than he always thought. Even if they had become teammates and somewhat friends the past couple of years, Puck wouldn't have expected that the boy he used to bully so relentlessly would be willing to spend an afternoon tutoring him so that he could graduate.

And it made him feel all that much worse.

"But we had some good times at the beginning too, right?" he asked out loud.

Kurt looked up from his work, puzzled.

"Football, 'Single Ladies'. That time with Finn in the Lady Gaga dress," Puck listed, wondering if what he was saying was making any sense at all.

Kurt laughed. "And most recently, when you spiked the punch at prom and got everyone drunk," he shook his head.

"And I wore a dress this week," Puck said, strangely proud of himself.

"And you wore a horrible dress this week, yes," Kurt repeated, scrunching his nose at the memory of it.

"And if I have to wear a dress to win us Nationals, I just might," Puck declared. Kurt laughed again and shook his head.

"I don't think so, Lola. Coach Sylvester will chop your head off if you perform at Nationals looking like that."

"It was worth a shot," Pucks shrugged.

"It was a hot mess," Kurt pointed out. "Italy is located in the peninsula called..."

"Apennines Peninsula."

Kurt made a thumbs-up sign and continued to leaf through the almanac. Puck finished the last of the notes from that chapter, and closed the book with a sigh.

"To be fair, I think she was onto something," he said, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Who?" Kurt asked, not looking up.

"Coach Sylvester. I think she had a point about you possibly winning us the competition."

Kurt growled and slumped his shoulders. "I'm not doing it-"

"I'm not trying to talk you into anything," Puck interrupted, holding up his hands defensively. "I'm just saying you could probably pull it off."

Kurt blinked blankly back at him.

"The dress," Puck clarified.

The half-smile that came on Kurt's face was a cross between fondness and confusion. It wasn't until then that Puck realized that the comment sounded a bit odd.

"Ahem."

Puck felt a tinge of cold at the back of his neck as he turned his head slowly, to find Blaine, Rory, Mike and Sam standing in the doorway. Blaine stood comically with his arms crossed and his chest puffed out, eyes narrowed at him, while the other boys just looked plain amused.

"Are you flirting with my boyfriend, Puckerman?"

Puck rolled his eyes and slumped back in his seat, bracing himself for the endless teasing that would ensue. "How long have you guys been standing there?"

"Never mind that, we seem to have gotten just in time before something inappropriate happened," Sam joked, walking in with a bowl of popcorn, and shoving a handful into his mouth before offering some to Kurt and Puck.

"I should warn you, my boy Blaine here knows boxing, so you best not cross," Mike added, carrying in two liters of Coke.

"Ha ha, hilarious," Puck said flatly, snatching the bowl of popcorn and tossing a few kernels at Sam and Mike.

Blaine pretended to strut in, maintaining eye contact with Puck and sitting on the couch, purposely seating himself between Kurt and Puck, and draping an arm over Kurt's shoulders possessively while still sneering at Puck. Kurt, meanwhile, was shaking with restrained laughter as he tried to continue what he was doing.

Artie rolled into the room with a stack of pizza boxes and paper plates on his lap. "Alright! European Geography study session part two is underway!" he said, putting the pizzas on the coffee table. Finn walked in with a box of cookies under his arm, an ice bucket and a stack of red Solo cups. There was a slice of pizza hanging from his mouth.

"Dude, not to put any pressure on you," he said to Puck, "but you better hurry up and learn all this stuff so we can go back to practicing the routines, otherwise Rachel will hurt you."

"And I will hurt all of you if you get any grease marks on anything," Kurt threatened. "Now, what is the capital of the European Union?" he asked, pointing his pencil at Puck.

"Um..." Puck mumbled, feeling a little blindsided.

"It's also the capital of Belgium," Kurt hinted. Puck tried to remember what he'd just written in his notes.

"Starts with a 'B', as in 'Blaine', 'boxing' and 'boyfriend'," Mike teased through a mouthful of pizza. Puck glared at him, while Blaine cracked his knuckles noisily. Rory laughed.

"Brussels?" Puck offered.

"Good."

"Yessss."

"Six more hours of this and I think you'll be fine," Kurt said. Puck groaned.

"Hey, we wouldn't be in this situation if last time you hadn't decided to cram eight hours before the test," Artie pointed out. "At least you've got plenty of time now."

Kurt nodded proudly. "If we work non-stop today, and you use my system for the rest of the week, you're getting an A or at least a B."

"I only need a D minus," Puck said, chewing on a cookie. Kurt shot him a deadly glare.

"You're getting a A."

"But-"

"I'm not doing all this work so you can just score a D minus," Kurt growled. "You're gonna ace that test so hard that it'll seem like you cheated."

"What? Okay, fine, calm down."

Thankfully the task of studying was momentarily put on hold while everyone got some pizza and a beverage. Blaine poured a glass of Diet Coke for Kurt and went to get them a couple of slices of pizza. Kurt caught Puck's eye for a moment and mouthed 'thank you'.

Puck chuckled to himself and stared around at the other guys. If someone had told him three years ago that he'd be best friends with such a band of misfits, he probably wouldn't have believed it. But these misfits were the greatest friends anyone could ask for. And pretty soon, they would all be going their separate ways. And he wasn't sure if he was ready. Where in the world was he gonna find friends like these guys?

He was really gonna miss this.

* * *

><p><em>Sorry this took me so long, but I've been so busy with work and some other stuff, I didn't get a chance until recently.<em>

_(By the way, I don't know any jokes about President Sarkozy and Carla Bruni, but a friend once drew a parallel between them and Klaine.)_

_I tried coming up with a nook for 'Nationals', but no such luck just yet. So Nooks & Crannies might be back after the final episode of the season, and then some... :)_

_Thank you for reading. Hope you don't cry too much with today's finale. Hope I don't either._

_-Valentina_


	10. Chapter 10

_I've been working on this since the very end of the season. But between a big celebration weekend I had planned (I turned 23 exactly a day after the wonderful Mr. Chris Colfer turned 22) and work and a trip to see my family and then more work and some classes I started, I never got around to finishing it. It might have had something to do with my frustration at the WORST SEASON FINALE IN THE HISTORY OF EVER. I was just soooo mad, so I couldn't write properly for a while. Most recently I wanted to finish some other stories that I had started, so I thought I should probably get this out of the way, and end the Nooks & Crannies series properly. No one can say that I'm a quitter._

_This, by the way, is Blaine's P.O.V._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. It belongs to those knuckle-heads Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, their dancing robots a.k.a The writers, and that evil empire called FOX._

* * *

><p><strong>Nooks and Crannies (a.k.a it's going to be okay)<strong>

by HappyValentina

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

Blaine jumped out of his car and ran up the little path to the front door of the Hummel-Hudson residence. He had barely rung the doorbell when Sam was yanking the door open.

"What took you so long?" he demanded with a hiss, pulling Blaine inside by the arm.

"Sorry, I had just woken up. Where's Kurt?" Blaine asked, just as low. The first thing he noticed was the shouting.

"He's in his room, Puck is with Finn, and Mr. And Mrs. Hummel are in the living room," Sam said, nodding his head toward the room where the shouting was coming from. "Also, Rachel is in my phone and everyone's phone sending text after text and leaving hundreds of missed calls and voice mails, wanting to know what's going on, and frankly I don't know what to tell her anymore. Everyone else keeps calling me too, like, every minute, asking for updates."

Blaine ran his hands through his hair, which he hadn't had time to style very well. He had rushed over as soon as he got the first desperate text from Kurt, showering and dressing the quickest he ever had. On his way over, he had received no less than ten other texts from Kurt, two from Sam, and yes, also about five from Rachel. He got calls from Mike, Tina and Artie wondering what was going on, but he didn't have a chance to respond, because he was already driving over the speed limit to get there.

He couldn't believe it when he heard it.

Finn was joining the army.

As if things weren't messed up enough already.

And he had kept it a secret from all of them. He had told Rachel, but he had kept it from his own family and from his friends. Rachel, of course, had told Kurt in turn, in an attempt to stop Finn from going through with it.

Kurt had not taken it well. Neither had Burt or Carole when they found out. Or everyone else, when word got out.

What was Finn thinking? What could possibly make him want to do this? Blaine had been under the impression that he'd toyed with the idea after trying to figure out what to do after graduation, but as far as he knew, that idea had been like a momentary madness.

Sam led the way up the stairs, and Blaine heard the raised voices coming from Finn's room at the end of the hallway.

Blaine knocked on Kurt's door. "Kurt? It's me," he called softly, before turning the handle.

Before he could even open the door a crack, it flew open, and Blaine stumbled backward when his boyfriend practically threw himself into his arms, clinging to him and burying his face into his neck. Kurt was trembling, and Blaine wrapped his arms around him instinctively, rubbing his back in an attempt to calm him down.

"What took you so long?" Kurt asked, voice muffled by Blaine's sweater.

"I got here as soon as I could," Blaine gasped, because Kurt was squeezing him. Kurt let go of him and held him at arm's length, and Blaine saw his reddened eyes and the vague trails of tears down his cheeks.

"You don't think he's going to go through with this, do you?"

Blaine had no idea what to say. Finn, he had come to know, was a pretty stubborn guy.

"Hopefully Puck can talk him out of it," he replied, hoping that it would soothe the other boy. He glanced at Sam for backup, but Sam was still standing in the hallway, clearly trying to make out what Puck was yelling in the other room.

"Rachel says her dads had no idea either. She told me that if they had known, they wouldn't have gone through with the plan, not until they were sure that Finn wouldn't-"

"So he lied to them too?" Blaine asked.

Kurt stood there, wringing his hands together, his eyes suddenly lost.

"He told me we would both go to New York next year," he started quietly. "He told me to look up internships and summer programs, because we were definitively going to New York. Together."

Blaine took a deep breath. "Why don't you talk to him about that? You know how Finn is, he beats himself down over everything. Maybe he's just scared, but you can convince him that-"

"Scared?" Kurt interjected. "I know New York is scary, I know that, but scarier than the army? That makes absolutely no sense to me."

"Because you've always been so sure of what you want," Blaine shrugged. "Maybe he's having trouble figuring things out-"

"Are we not trying to help him with that? Because we are! We all are? Right, Sam? I don't know what to tell him anymore! Why won't he listen? It's not like he'll be there alone!"

"Maybe he needs to be reassured-"

"You don't think I did? I told him! Rachel told him! We all have! He won't change his mind! I just don't understand! Rachel, stop calling me!"

The last part was shouted at his phone, which had been vibrating incessantly. Kurt shut it off and tossed it onto the bed. It landed on a pillow.

Just when Kurt was about to start pacing, there was a slam of a door. Sam jumped at the sound, and Puck appeared at the doorway beside him and threw his hands up.

"Dude, I tried. I don't know what to say to him anymore," he said to Kurt. "I'm telling you, I'm done with this. When he gives me that whiny-ass attitude, I just feel like punching him in the nuts, and I promised I wouldn't do that. But I can't take it anymore."

"Did you tell him about becoming a professional drummer?"

"I told him every possibility of a career in music! I said summer courses, trying out for the orchestra, the jazz band, I even told him we could form our own band, and all we would need to find is a bass player and that's easy! He won't go for it!"

Kurt shook his head slowly, wringing his hands so hard like he was trying to tear off his skin. "There's got to be something..."

"Face it, Kurt, he's made up his mind."

"It's Finn! He's changed his mind about everything over ten times for the past three years!"

"Well, he seems pretty sure about this."

Kurt looked angrily at Puck.

"Listen to me: this can't stay like this!"

"Kurt, it's gonna be fine," Blaine said. Kurt shook his head violently.

"No, it's not gonna be fine! _He's joining the army!_"

"He's gonna be okay."

"You can't say that! You don't know! He's gonna get himself killed in some war!"

"Kurt, there is no more war," Puck said matter-of-factly.

"There's always a war somewhere!"

Puck's eyes shifted toward Blaine, like he wasn't so sure of his own words anymore.

Hot tears appeared at the corners of Kurt's eyes and spilled down his cheeks all over again, and his words came out interspersed by sobs.

"What if he gets shipped to the other side of the world? What if he gets horribly injured? Or killed? What if my dad has another heart attack when he gets the news?"

"You're thinking too much about this," Sam offered quietly.

"You don't understand! I can't- I can't do this! I can't have my family fall apart again," Kurt sobbed, sitting down on the edge of his bed, like he couldn't stand anymore. "I can't lose someone else..."

Blaine swallowed hard, sitting beside Kurt quickly and pulling him into his embrace.

He thought he had imagined it, but it seemed to him that Puck's eyes were glistening with tears. He sniffed and let out a deep breath. "Fine, I'll go talk to him again," he said hoarsely, turning around and heading back toward Finn's room. They heard the door open and close, and raised voices were soon breaking the silence.

"What's the use?" Kurt whispered weakly, as Blaine rubbed his arm.

"Hey, come on, he's going to be okay. It will be okay."

Sam stood awkwardly at the doorway, watching them. "I'm gonna go get him some water," he said finally, and left without waiting for a reply. Blaine watched him leave, the footsteps disappearing quickly under the sound of the shouting match at the end of the hall.

"It's like he doesn't care how this is going to affect us all," Kurt said, as Blaine sat up against the headboard, pulling Kurt up with him. He wrapped his arms tightly around him.

"He's just confused," Blaine said.

"No, he's not. He's an asshole."

"He'll come around."

Kurt just sobbed quietly into Blaine's chest, while Blaine dragged his fingers soothingly over his back, hoping that the shouting match could end well.

* * *

><p>Kurt eventually fell asleep, his head on Blaine's shoulder and an arm thrown across his chest. Blaine couldn't sleep, tho, even tho he felt very comfortable and peaceful.<p>

The house had grown very quiet in the past hour. Puck had finally left without a word, clearly strung out and defeated. Finn had locked himself in his room. Downstairs it was quiet too.

Sam half-dozed in the armchair in the corner of Kurt's room; he had come back with a glass of water for Kurt, and taken refuge there, having nowhere else in the house to be. He said Mrs. Hummel was having a fit in the living room and Mr. Hummel was stony silent in the kitchen. And Sam's room was actually Finn's room, so that was out of the question as well.

So he sat in the corner as still and quiet as he could, until they were absolutely sure that Kurt was fast asleep. They had both set their phones to 'silent'; they were still getting bombarded with messages and calls from the others, and they didn't want to ignore them completely, but also they wouldn't want to wake Kurt up.

Everyone kept asking over and over what had happened. Quinn said she was coming over to talk some sense into Finn. So did Artie and Santana. Mercedes suggested they all go and bugger him until he changed his mind.

"What do we tell them?" Sam mouthed to Blaine.

"I have no idea," Blaine mouthed back.

The messages stopped after a while, and Blaine thought they were either giving up or they were actually rallying up to get here in a bunch.

"How is he?"

Sam and Blaine looked to the doorway. Burt Hummel looked tired, very tired.

Blaine looked down at Kurt, asleep in his arms. Normally he would've been very embarrassed about being caught by his boyfriend's dad, on his boyfriend's bed, with his boyfriend sleeping on him. But he knew Burt didn't give a damn right now.

"He calmed down after a while. He was pretty worn out."

Burt nodded slowly, letting out a loud sigh.

"I'm sorry you boys had to be here to witness all that."

"Don't worry about it, Burt," Sam said.

"Has he come out at all?" Burt asked, gesturing toward Finn's room. Sam shook his head.

"I think he might be asleep, too."

"Well, I'm gonna go pick up some lunch. If he comes out, could you tell him that his mother would really like to talk to him?"

Sam and Blaine nodded. Burt's gaze lingered momentarily on his son, before turning to leave.

"Oh, Sam, I spoke to your father. He told me you'd be going back home at the end of the week, right?"

"Yep. I'm just turning in my last reports this week, and then I'll be headed home. I've got a summer job waiting for me."

"Well, good," Burt sighed. "Listen, I know we haven't talked about what you'll be doing when school starts again in September, but you know you're always welcome here."

"Thanks, Burt."

"Maybe..." the man began, scratching the back of his head, "I mean, _hopefully_ you can still visit us during the summer. You know, there's still time for Finn to rethink the whole army thing, and maybe spending more time with his friends, with his family, will give him a reason to change him mind."

Sam smiled. "Sure thing, Burt."

As Burt finally left, Blaine felt a surge of anger toward Blaine. How could he do this to his family? He understood that Finn's father had been a soldier, and he understood the desire to follow in his father's footsteps and all that. But not at this cost.

Because Finn may have lost his dad, but he never really knew him. But Burt and Kurt and Carole all knew very well what it was like to lose somebody they loved and know it and feel it. And Finn was suddenly forcing them to go through that possibility again.

Blaine couldn't help but think that Finn was indeed being an asshole. What he was doing was foolish and selfish, and that made him an asshole.

He felt bad for Burt and Carole; he knew that it was was probably very hard for them to be away from home so much. It was hard for them to know that their sons' plans were suddenly up in the air, and that they wished nothing more than to help them fulfill their dreams.

Did Finn even have dreams? He seemed passionate about a different thing every five seconds. That was really annoying, but it was particularly annoying now.

* * *

><p>"Look at them, they look so peaceful."<p>

Blaine blinked his eyes open slowly, and flinched slightly at the sight of Brittany, Tina and Sugar standing over him. Where did they come from?

"Oh, no! Don't mind us, go back to sleep," Sugar said, smiling at him delightedly.

Had he really been sleeping? How long had he been out? He looked down and realized that Kurt was still asleep, cuddled up to his side. Wow, he hadn't even moved at all.

"When did you get here?" he asked, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

"A few minutes ago," Mike said from the corner of the room, making Blaine look around. Almost all of New Directions was there; with the obvious exception of Rachel.

"You guys, Burt brought lunch," Sam said, poking his head into the room, "you better hurry before it gets cold, or I eat everything, cuz I'm starving."

"I'm guessing you're the one who told them they could come into the room while we were sleeping?" Blaine asked, one eyebrow cocked. Sam grinned like an idiot and disappeared again.

Just then, Kurt stirred beside him, making a noise deep in his throat, like a cat purring, that would've made Blaine smile and snuggle up to him, had they been alone. In the presence of all their friends, Blaine quickly made to wake Kurt fully, with a gentle shake to his shoulder.

"Kurt, wake up, everyone's here being creepy and your dad brought lunch."

Kurt's eyes flew open and travelled around the room, at each of the people standing or sitting around.

"Kurt, what's with all the post-its?" Rory asked.

"WHAT THE-? Oh, ouch, my head..." Kurt said, sitting up slowly and rubbing his eyes and smoothing down his hair. He squinted at the midday light coming through the window.

"Oh, geez, I can't feel my arm," Blaine said, holding his left arm, which had been under Kurt all this time, with his right hand awkwardly.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kurt asked.

"We said we'd come over and talk some sense into Finn," Mercedes explained. "You guys go have lunch. We're just waiting for Santana to be done."

"Santana's in there?"

"You can't hear her?" Mercedes pointed out. Surely enough, Santana Lopez's sass was unmistakably coming at a high volume through the door at the end of the hallway.

"She's just softening him up a bit," Tina said.

"More like stunning him really good," Mercedes muttered.

"We might be here for a while, tho," Artie said. They had actually helped Artie get upstairs? Wow, these guys were determined.

"Or maybe not," Quinn said. "I think I just heard Santana say that she was not letting him out to have lunch until he changed his mind legitimately. Knowing Finn and his ravenous appetite, I think he's gonna cave."

"Puck, what are you doing here?" Blaine asked.

"Quinn dragged me back here," Puck said sourly.

"What, you have something better to do on a Saturday morning than try to stop your best friend from making a terrible mistake?"

"Oh, like I didn't spend the entire morning here already doing exactly that? Blaine, Kurt, tell her."

Blaine shrugged. "Well, you didn't... actually get him to change his mind..." he said hesitantly.

"Oh, shut up. Like you even tried negotiating with that knuckle-head. All you did when you got here was get in bed with your boyfriend. Real helpful," Puck said sarcastically, making Blaine turn bright red. Tina and Sugar giggled quietly.

"Leave him alone, Puckerman. But thank you for coming back," Kurt said, sliding off the bed. "I don't even know what you guys are actually planning to do to convince Finn of not joining the army, but if by some miraculous chance you manage it, what options are you offering him?"

"Don't you worry about it," Quinn said, patting him on the shoulder. "You go have lunch with your family and leave the rest to us. We're not leaving until we get through to him."

"In that case, could we order some pizza or something? I'm kinda hungry," Mike said.

"I second that," Joe said.

"How are you feeling?" Blaine asked, as he and Kurt made their way downstairs. Kurt shrugged.

"A little better, I guess," he said, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of Finn's room, where Santana's thundering voice was still shaking the walls.

"Hey, there you are," Carole said as soon as they entered the kitchen. "Food's getting cold."

"Sorry, we were sort of ambushed," Kurt explained. Blaine noted that neither Burt nor Carole looked so distraught anymore.

"Stock up. Finn's gonna be really hungry when Santana finally lets him out," Sam said with his mouth full.

"Yeah, your friends are quite something," Burt said as he poured himself a glass of Coke. "I'm really gonna miss them."

"You have no idea," Kurt said, grinning at Blaine.

* * *

><p><em>Open ending. Of course.<em>

_So that's it for the Nooks & Crannies. They might make a come back once season 4 starts, but we'll see. It all depends on how things develop in the series. (By the looks of it, I predict I might fall into a deep depression once episode 4 comes rolling in, so we'll see if I'm even in any mood to write... *sigh*)._

_Thanks for reading._

_-Vale_


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